Chamber urges Minister to simplify tax rates further

Says, bio-diesel industry facing closure owing to 18 % GST

Lauding the Union government for its bold decision to introduce the Goods and Service Tax in July last, a delegation from the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry here however, appealed to the Finance Minister to simplify the tax rates further and ensure that honest traders were not affected across the country.

Submitting its wish-list in a memorandum to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi recently, the delegation, led by chamber senior president S. Rethinavelu, president N. Jagatheesan, Madurai MP R. Gopalakrishnan and other office-bearers, said that for many goods, the tax rate was still at 28 %.

This should be revised as items considered as used by common man were still categorised as luxury goods. The Minister was briefed on the need to have a clear formula for fitment of goods under different tax brackets.

The delegation urged to impose 5 % GST on bio-diesel instead of 18 %. This had directly hit the industry since the price of the commodity had suddenly risen by ₹ 10 per litre. Major consumers like the railways had stopped purchasing bio-diesel. As a result, the bio-diesel industry faced closure.

Hence, in the interest of the environment friendly industry, the Union government should reverse the tax component and ensure the industry survived.

Likewise, on the direct tax, the delegation insisted on enhancing the personal income tax from present ₹ 2.50 lakh to ₹ 5 lakh. Only when the tax structures are low, evasion and suppression will be avoided. Hence, to rope in larger tax base, the Centre can bring down the tax rates and introduce friendly measures, which will voluntarily bring in more people.

The members had an interaction with Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju on the need to expand the runway length of Madurai airport from the present 7000 feet to 12,000 feet. Though the Airports Authority of India had approved the expansion in 2010, there was delay in implementation.

The Chamber said that there was an urgent need to construct new buildings as the present terminal was congested. From 6.39 lakh passengers in 2013, the numbers had gone up to 9.63 lakh in 2017. With 16 domestic flights, 15 arrivals, four international flight arrivals and three departures daily, the airport required expansion, the release said.