The Tirupur garment exporters are perturbed by the manner in which the government machinery was insisting them to pay advance tax at a time when the huge volumes of entitled refunds and export incentives meant for them under government schemes were pending.
Raja M. Shanmugam, the president of Tirupur Exporters Association, told The Hindu that the exporters had sent a communication on the issue to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in which the annoyance was expressed over the hurriedness shown by the Income Tax department to issue notices and attach bank accounts of the companies which did not pay advance tax. “Demand notices asking for payment of advance tax are now being issued to exporters here which too based on the previous financial year’s cumulative tax remittance figures.
“This act is a pure dichotomy because how can government ask for the advance tax at a time when the government dues to the tune of ₹1,200 crore under various schemes like Remission of State Levies and duty drawback, and Goods and Service Tax refunds, were pending disbursal for Tirupur cluster alone. Moreover, advance tax is not mandatory but only an optional tool”, he pointed out.
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“Cash flow is very important for MSME-dominated cluster like Tirupur without which the enterprises would perish”, said S. Dhananjayan, chartered accountant and consultant to various textile bodies.
The TEA president, through his social media platform, had also pleaded with the PMO to help the cluster survive.