The State government has decided to make it mandatory for the transporters having operations in Andhra Pradesh to obtain radio frequency identification (RFID) tag or any other tracking device. The government will forthwith impose hefty penalty of Rs. 10,000 or more on the transporters for not obtaining the tag along with the transit pass or tampering the tag. It has decided to levy penalty of Rs. 15,000 for each offence of non-production of transport declarations. This forms some of the major amendments proposed by the Government in the Andhra Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005.
The government has proposed to make non-stoppage of transport vehicles at check-posts as an offence with obstructing the authorities from discharging their duties. The violation could entail compounding fee of up to Rs. 1 lakh on the transporters.
The penalty for failure of the transporters to appear before the authorities whenever summons or notices are issued had been increased from Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,000 a day subject to a maximum of Rs. 30,000 in case of a VAT dealer, Rs. 350 for every day of delay subject to a maximum of Rs. 10,000 in case of TOT dealers and Rs. 500 a day (subject to a maximum of Rs. 15,000) in case of other dealers. A new section (56-A) was introduced levying penalty on the VAT dealers for not uploading the details of invoices at the rate of five per cent of the total turnover covered under the invoices.
In addition, the Government had proposed to reduce the rate of tax on bunker fuels HSD and furnace oil supplied to international ships to 0.5 per cent. The tax on sale of furnace oil is proposed to be reduced to five per cent in view of the fact that most of the industries were purchasing furnace oil from other States by paying 2 per cent CST instead of purchasing it locally by paying 14.5 per cent.
Notification had already been issued to rationalise tax structure on IMFL, Beer, Wines and ready to drink varieties in different slabs. According to the Bill piloted by Finance and Commercial Taxes Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, the reduction in tax rates of bunker fuels would result in a revenue loss of about Rs. 14.43 crore every year while the reduction in tax on industrial sale of furnace oil would entail loss of another Rs. 6 crore.
The Government had decided to exempt sugar from levy of tax that would result in loss of Rs. 48 crore. The rationalisation of tax on IMFL, Beer, Wines and ready to drink varieties would, however, result in revenue gain of about Rs. 150 crore to the State, he said.
