Truckers demand exemption from 2 per cent TDS levy

Truckers today demanded exemption from levy of a 2 per cent TDS as well as keeping the freight industry out of the service tax net.
All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) asked the government to keep the truckers out of the purview of service tax and charge it directly from the consigners and consignees.
"Government should charge service tax directly from the parties and keep the freight industry out of it. This will help us in ease of doing business," AIMTC President Bhim Wadhwa said here.
The apex body of motor transport in the country also raised demand of waiving the two per cent TDS for firms plying, hiring, leasing and owning more than 10 trucks which is proposed in the recently placed Union Budget and said this would lead to "inspector raj".

"The government has proposed to levy a TDS of two percent which is detrimental to this industry. The industry is currently going through financial crunch and a proposal like this would reduce the cash inflow further," he said.
The government should take this matter seriously otherwise we have to take extreme steps for our survival, he further said.

Terming toll tax as "cancer for freight industry", Wadhwa also said, the government should take adequate measures for making toll process transparent.
"The toll tax is a cancer for us. The government should make it transparent," he said.
He added, "We demand an one time toll for all vehicles, we are even ready to pay for non-commercial vehicles, but the process should be kept clean."

Wadhwa said, representatives of AIMTC will be meeting the Finance Minister and place their demand within a week.
"We have already placed some of our demands in front of the government again and again, now lets see what action the government takes.