Chhattisgarh for central tax phase out:-
The Chhattisgarh government said Monday it would not succumb to “pressure tactics” to embrace the Value Added Tax (VAT) system unless its basic demand for phasing out of central taxes was met.
Finance and Industry Minister Amar Agrawal said the state did not face any “market pressure” to join the VAT regime.
“Chhattisgarh has repeatedly said that the central government must address our concern on Central Sales Tax (CST) otherwise the VAT would have no meaning,” Agrawal told IANS.
The minister was referring to a statement by Parthasarthy Shome, advisor to the union finance minister, who had said at a seminar Friday “market forces will force eight non-VAT states to join the regime".
Shome had, while addressing the Assocham (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) seminar, had stated that Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal besides five Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states would be forced to join the VAT bandwagon soon since market rates in VAT states would be lower than non-VAT states. Shome had said that pressure from manufacturers and consumers would make the eight states implement VAT.
Describing Shome’s statement as “nothing short of pressure tactics", Agrawal said that the trader community had rallied behind him and “no decision would be taken against the interests of the state and traders”
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