Slew of sops to give relief to public, businessmen

“I am waiving off the arrears in cases where they are Rs 10,000 or less per year as per any statutory order passed under the various tax laws implemented by the department,” he said in his budget speech.

Besides, the dealers having arrears up to Rs 10 lakh as on April 1 as raised in the statutory orders will have the option to pay a lump sum amount of 20 per cent of the total arrears instead of calculating the amounts payable on account of undisputed tax, disputed tax, interest, penalty as per the proportions provided in the scheme. “On payment of the lump sum amount of 20 per cent, the waiver will be granted to the remaining 80 per cent of the arrears. As a result, medium dealers will be benefited in about 2,20,000 cases,” he added.

Stating that the environment-friendly natural gas is largely used for domestic piped gas and CNG-powered motor vehicles, autorickshaws, taxis and private vehicles, Pawar said that it is proposed to reduce the rate of value-added tax on natural gas from 13.5 per cent to 3 per cent to encourage the use of environment friendly natural gas and to provide relief to the citizens. As a result, the state may incur a revenue reduction of about Rs 800 crore, he added.

Besides, the government has announced an amnesty scheme under Stamp Act from April 1 to November 30 this year for pending penalty dues. The state is likely to incur a shortfall of Rs 1,500 crore due to concessions under this scheme.

To promote water transport in the state, the government announced waiver of the tax levied by the Maharashtra Maritime Board for the next three years on passengers as well as pets, vehicles, goods etc. travelling by ferries and RoRo boats operating on newly launched waterways from January 1.

The government also announced a waiver of stamp duty on silver and gold imports, refineries, and exports. It will lead to a revenue shortfall of around Rs 100 crore.

The government has also increased the period of adjustment of stamp duty, which is paid on an earlier deed to be adjusted against the subsequent deed, from one year to three years. It also proposed exemption of the current stamp duty of 3 per cent on gift deed or 5 per cent on the sale deed if any land is transferred to corporations and institutions without consideration.