Tax on certain wood items to be brought down to 4 pc
The timber business at Kallai is likely to get a respite from the latest tribulation it has been subjected to undergo after the VAT has been introduced.
According to sources, Commissioner of Commercial Taxes V. Somasundram has assured the Kozhikode Timber Merchants Association to reduce the tax on two varieties of timbers, silver oak (kattadi) and terminilia-bellerica (thani), which form the main staple of the sawmills at this traditional business centre. Their tax will be brought down from 12.5 percent to 4 percent.
The timber business at Kallai used to subsist on silver oak and terminilia-bellerica procured from Kerala and other southern states. Traders used to despatch these timbers to Mumbai, Pune and other destinations.
Though timber tax had earlier been pegged at 12.5 percent under the VAT regime, later the Government reduced the tax on 48 items to 4 percent. However, much to the chagrin of the 2,000-odd businessmen in southern part of the city, the tax on thani and kattadi remained at 12.5 percent.
More: newindpress.com