Gems and jewellery industry today sought special turnover tax regime for diamond industry, interest subvention to boost exports and PAN card requirement for transactions of above Rs 5 lakh instead of currently Rs 2 lakh in its wishlist submitted to the Finance Ministry.
During a meeting with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ahead of the budget, two industry bodies, All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) Gems and Jewellery Export Council (GJEPC) sought measures for ease of doing business while raising the issue of PAN card requirement for transaction of above Rs 2 lakh.
"From January 1, quoting PAN card has been made must for transaction of jewellery over Rs 2 lakh. This is hurting the domestic industry a lot. So, we have demanded the government to make PAN card mandatory for transaction over Rs 5 lakh instead of Rs 2 lakh," GJF G V Sreedhar told PTI after the meeting.
Because of the PAN card requirement, local jewellery industry has lost a business by 25-30 per cent in the last 15 days, he said, adding that if this continues, the industry will be affected badly.
Demanding steps for boosting gems and jewellery exports, GJEPC Chairman Praveen Shankar Pandya demanded introduction of Special Turnover Tax Regime for diamond Industry with 0.75 per cent tax on sales turnover on the lines of other diamond trading competitive nations like Belgium and Israel.
This will increase the shift of capital from Belgium and Dubai by NRIs, creating more jobs and exports, he said.
GJEPC recommended start of sale of rough diamonds at Special Notified Zone (SNZ) by implementing 0.25 per cent tax on sales turnover achieved at SNZ of Foreign Mining Companies.
It also sought inclusion of gems and jewellery under Interest Subvention Scheme and Merchandize Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), involvement of jewellers under Gold Monetization Scheme and reduction in the difference between the import duty on gold dore bars and gold bars.
"Currently, there is a huge difference of 2 per cent between import duty on Gold Dore Bars and Gold Bars. Difference in duties between the two should be brought down to 1/4 per cent," GJEPC said.
That apart, the export promotion body also urged the government to create certainty of tax provisions and reduce litigation.
