Rajkot to get sales tax tribunal bench soon

A special bench of the sales tax tribunal will be constituted in Rajkot for the speedy disposal of tax appeals, Gujarat finance minister Vajubhai Vala said on Friday.

A retired judge will be appointed for this purpose, Vala said while speaking at a workshop held here in connection with the state-level celebrations of the Republic Day.

The event was organised by the Navanagar Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

Minister of state for industries Anil Patel was also present.

Vala said the state has registered a net increase in the revenue collection by rationalising the tax structure.

"We have increased the revenue collection by decreasing the sales tax and checking tax evasion," he said.

On the demand for appointing an assistant sales tax commissioner for appeals, Vala said a circuit bench will hear appeals in Jamnagar and the business community will not have to go to Bhavnagar for appeals.

He also instructed the local sales tax authority to assure the payment of refunds within 60 days.

Regarding implementation of the value added tax (VAT), the finance minister said this is a state-level regime and every state will have to implement it from next the fiscal year.

The state government had detailed discussions with various trade and commerce associations regarding certain provisions of the tax system, he said.

Anil Patel declared a Rs 10 crore common facility center for the Jamnagar brass parts industries.

He said the scheme has been forwarded to the central government for the final clearance and the state government has allocated its contribution to this.

A meeting is also scheduled in Delhi on next Saturday with the Union industries minister, he said.

Anil Patel said the state government has implemented a self-certification system for the industries.

Saurabh Patel, minister of state for power and petrochemicals, said the Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) is on the path to profit following the effective measures taken by the state government.

The GEB has registered a monthly income of Rs 100 crore just by enhancing its efficiency, he said.

He said the line loss is brought down to 20 per cent from 40 per cent and the state government is committed to eliminate 99 per cent of the low voltage problem by bifurcating the whole line network within a period of just two years.

Every month, the GEB is replacing as many as one lakh meters, he said.

Saurbh hinted at introducing a consumer-friendly bill collection system and said 'collection at home' scheme will soon be implemented in some of the areas.

Nathalal Mungra, the chamber president, presented the memorandums listing out various problems and demands to the respective ministers.

Local MP Chandresh Patel, MLA Vasuben Trivedi and representatives from trade and industry were present.