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The entry tax on goods,proposed by the Finance Minister Amit Mitra,will hassle the business community while the financial burden will be transferred to the common people who are already suffering because of inflation,business organizations in West Bengal felt.
Presenting the state budget in the Assembly on March 23,Mitra proposed to set up a Compensatory Entry Tax Fund by levying tax on entry of goods into local areas. To implement this,the minister is likely to table West Bengal Tax on Entry of Goods into Local Areas Bill 2012 soon. Once the bill becomes an act,the state government will start collecting tax on certain categories of goods and items specified in the West Bengal VAT Act 2003 and West Bengal Sales Tax Act 1994,finance department sources said.
We are opposed to such a move as it will create hassles for the business community. The proposal will have an inflationary effect. For collection of taxes,checkposts will come up. Transportation cost will go up. The burden will come on the common people. Such tax existed in Bengal before 1995. It was withdrawn because of long agitation, D P Nag,secretary of Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry,told The Indian Express.
The Merchant Chamber of Commerce and Industry has requested Mitra to reconsider the proposal.
Pawan Kumar Bansal of Calcutta Chamber of Commerce said nothing had been clearly stated in the budget speech on entry tax. There are some questions regarding entry tax but the answers are not available in Mitras budget speech. It is not clear on what products entry tax will be levied and at what rate, Bansal said.
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