The Andhra Pradesh government is planning to bring the booming information technoogy (IT) exports into the sales tax net from next year.Konatala Ramakrishna, minister for commercial taxes, said high- level deliberations are underway in the government while discussions are being held with IT companies in this regard.Responding to a question, the minister said various modalities are being worked out on how to tax the revenue earned by IT companies. It is learnt that the government is considering the lowest value added tax (VAT) rate of 4% on IT business. According to the minister, several players in the IT industry have responded positively to the tax proposal during the on-going consultations.Ranked fourth in IT exports in the country, Andhra Pradesh has been witnessing faster growth in the sector in recent years. Total IT exports from the state in 2005-06 was about Rs 12,500 crore, a year-on-year growth of 51%. The IT sector alone contributed 45% of the total exports worth Rs 19,552 crore from the state during 2005-06.
