The Tax Payers’ Association has welcomed the State government’s decision to credit the professional tax collected in the city into the accounts of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) directly.
Addressing a press conference in Vijayawada on Tuesday, association president V. Sambi Reddy and secretary M.V. Anjaneyulu said the government issued G.O. 498 directing the Commercial Taxes Department to transfer 95 per cent of professional tax collected in the city directly into the account of the VMC.
Hitherto, the professional tax was being credited into the State exchequer, and the government used to release the professional tax to the VMC as per its whims and fancies.
The government has not been releasing professional tax since 2005-06 Financial Year, taking the total dues to Rs.80 crore, including Rs.15 crore during 2011-12 Financial Year.
As the G.O. was effective from 2012, the VMC would have to forego its share of Rs.80 crore. The Association demanded that the government clear the dues as well.
The government was supposed to give 10 per cent of the Motor Vehicle (MV) Tax to the VMC. It had collected Rs.8,04.07 crore towards the MV Tax from 2005-06 to 2010-11 Financial Year, and during 2011-12 the MV Tax collections stood at Rs.20 crore.
The VMC’s share in the MV Tax would be Rs.100 crore from 2005-06 till date. The government was requested to issue another G.O. on the lines of G.O. 498 and release Rs.100 crore also.
The association leaders recalled that they had submitted umpteen memoranda to MLAs, MP, and Ministers. The association also made a mention of the dues in the writ petition filed against the collection of user charges on garbage, they said.
