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Sanjay Jog
Mumbai, June 30: The Maharashtra sales tax department has called for granting sales tax incentives in the form of subsidy through issue of special incentive vouchers, independent of budgetary allocations.
According to the department, the unit will attach a voucher, to be issued by the implementing agency, for the amount equivalent to the value of the amount payable with the return for the tax collected instead of paying tax to the government by cash or cheque.
The implementing agency will be suitably authorised by law to issue such vouchers to the units. On attachment of such vouchers with the returns, the sales tax department will credit the said vouchers against the tax liability of the unit.
Mantralaya sources told The Financial Express that the sales tax department's suggestion will be incorporated in the proposed package scheme of incentives to be launched on November 1. The state cabinet has appointed a sub-committee, headed by industry minister Leeladhar Dake, to finalise the new scheme.The term of the package scheme of incentives 1993, which has been extended twice, will expire in October. The package scheme of incentives was introduced by the Sharad Pawar government in 1993.
The sales tax department said that the tax collected by the unit would remain with it and would not be required to be repaid to the government even as deferral dues at a later date. The net effect of these transactions would be that the unit would be able to receive incentives by way of grants from the government and at the same time discharge its statutory tax liability to the government.
The accountant general would accept sales tax dues in the form of cheque/cost as well as vouchers. The process will enable the state government to gauge the amount of revenue sacrifice every year in promoting development of backward areas, sources said.
The government has also accepted various recommendations made by a high-level committee headed by State Industrial and Investment Corporation of Maharashtra managing director DTJoseph. The Joseph Committee had suggested that the new scheme should be made operative till the end of 2000 and the terminal date should be extended to December 31, 2003.
The Joseph Committee had said that the state need not have any aversion to industrialisation within the Mumbai metropolitan region and, if need be, special facilities may be provided for attracting industries around Mumbai and even within Mumbai for some specific industries. A separate sectoral policy for automobile, electronics, agro industries and export-oriented industries should be framed.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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