AMID concerns regarding air pollution and Supreme Court’s recent order limiting time to two hours for bursting crackers, Ludhiana wholesale cracker dealers’ association Friday protested outside the Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) office against one-time tax being levied by sale tax department, besides GST. The dealers across the state are also seeking permission to set up more kiosks.
Dealers have been asked to pay Rs 60,000 lump sum tax for taking temporary licenses for selling crackers through kiosks to be set up at Dana Mandi, while shopkeepers at main markets have to pay Rs 20,000.
Dealer Tribhuvan Thaper said last year they had agreed to pay lump sum tax as Goods and Services Tax (GST) had just been implemented. “We were yet to know its rules. Now, we have GST number, so we will pay the tax. Why should we pay lump sum tax? We are already reeling under losses. We have been asked to submit our files and this issue too has been kept pending. Now all eyes are on Monday, the temporary license allotment day.”
President of the association Ashok Thaper said, “The number of our temporary licenses will be reduced by 20 per cent as compared to what we got in 2016. However, in Delhi and NCR, it is 50 per cent as per the SC directions. We are demanding the same.”
Dealer Thaper said if they go by the 20 per cent rule, they will be getting not more than 15 licenses. “We will face heavy losses as even our last year’s stock is lying in godowns of people having permanent licenses. If we get 33 licenses going by the 50 per cent rule, all the dealers will be able to set up the kiosks at Dana Mandi and do business for a week.”
Read more at: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ludhiana/ludhiana-firecracker-dealers-protest-against-one-time-tax-over-gst-5420809/