Punjab: Petrol dealers want tax variations rectified
A delegation of Punjab's petrol and diesel dealers met the trade and industrial affairs advisory committee on Friday with a request to rectify the tax variations compared with the adjoining states.
A delegation of Punjab's petrol and diesel dealers met the trade and industrial affairs advisory committee on Friday with a request to rectify the tax variations compared with the adjoining states.
Chief parliamentary secretaries Sarup Chand Singla and NK Sharma are members of the advisory committee. The representatives raised the issue in the presence of Faridkot legislator Deep Malhotra; principal secretary for finance DP Reddy; excise and taxation commissioner Anurag Verma; and Ajay Kumar Mahajan, special principal secretary to deputy chief minister. The dealers said the tax difference was encouraging the smuggling of fuel into border districts of Punjab, which was not only bad for their business but also leading to tax evasion.
Mahajan said during the meeting that the northern states had agreed to have a uniform tax structure (UTS) to eliminate evasion and smuggling. He said a coordination committee comprising taxation secretaries of these states had also been constituted.
On the issue of smuggling of fuel, Reddy said the states had also decided to form a common economic intelligence unit and mobile teams to fight it. "Complaints could be filed on dedicated toll-free helpline numbers," he said.