The non-payment of sales tax by the traders in the Darjeeling hills/Black day’ call by The Dooars Terai United Movement Committee

 Tax non-payment takes toll on trade

- Merchants fail to buy goods from outside state

Darjeeling, Sept. 1: The non-payment of sales tax by the traders in the Darjeeling hills because of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s call for a non-co-operation movement is posing a major problem for the business community in stocking up their goods just when the tourist season is looking good.

The shop owners cannot purchase goods from outside Bengal as they cannot furnish the waybills, which are mandatory for the inter-state trade. The sales tax department can give waybills only if it is satisfied that the traders have cleared all dues.

For the first time since 2007, Darjeeling is expecting a high footfall of visitors and most of the hotels have already been booked for the coming season. However, traders who primarily need to bring in goods from outside Bengal are at the receiving end.

“Since the tourists’ inflow was not too high in the past three years, we did not really need to bring in goods from outside Bengal. However, we are expecting a very good season and it is necessary for us to bring items from outside the state. But we are now facing problems,” said a trader who deals in handicrafts that is brought from various parts of India.

The problem arises from the fact that more than 1,100 registered traders in the hills have not paid their sales taxes since 2008. The traders cannot generate a waybill as they haven’t cleared the sales taxes. “The sales tax department is computerised and if anyone needs to get a waybill, the software finds out whether dues have been cleared or not. If the dues are not cleared, the way-bills cannot be generated,” said a trader.

The waybills can be obtained for free and have to be sent to the outstation traders. Then, the goods are sent from outside Bengal along with the waybills. Products which are not accompanied by the way-bill can be seized by the commercial tax officials at any checkpost.

The Morcha said it had already written to the Centre to waive off the entire outstanding dues accumulated during the three years of non-co-operation movement.

However, for the traders time is running out.

“We need to stock up on goods this month or else, we will not have enough items to sell,” said a trader.

The traders are also in a dilemma as outstanding sales tax dues are accumulating with every passing day. A district official said the sales tax dues had touched the Rs 25-crore mark.

If a trader, who sells items worth more than Rs 10,000 a month, doesn’t file his tax returns, he has to pay a fine of Rs 2,000 for the first month followed by Rs 500 every month.

Those whose transaction is less than Rs 10,000 will have to pay a fine of Rs 500 for the first month followed by Rs 200 for every month’s delay.

The percentage of sales tax differs from one product to another.

“If it’s a gold item, the sales tax is levied at 1 per cent and if it is garment, it is 4 per cent. There is a list for all items,” said a sales tax official.

“Since we have not heard anything from the government (regarding the waiver), we are adding this fine, which comes to around Rs 67,000 per trader on an average,” said an official.

Another trader said apart from the Rs 67,000 fine, the businessmen were also levied an interest at the rate of around 10 per cent per month on the dues. “The interest on my tax dues has reached Rs 4 lakh mark,” said the trader.

The business community hopes that the Morcha will clinch a waiver from the government.

“However, at the back of the mind, we are worried that if the government mounts pressure, it will be difficult to clear all the dues at one go. Even medium traders have outstanding dues amounting to around Rs 2-3 lakh,” said a trader.

‘Black day’ call

The Dooars Terai United Movement Committee, a forum of organisations opposed to Gorkhaland, will observe a “black day” tomorrow when the bill on Gorkhaland Territorial Administration will be tabled in the Assembly.