In a relief to trade and industry in the state ahead of Assembly polls early next year, the Punjab government has scrapped about 40,000 pending cases of Value Added Tax (VAT).
An official spokesperson of the taxation department said the department exempted around 40,000 statutory form-related outstanding cases under Central Sales Tax or VAT, out of over 48,000 cases related to each of the financial years 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17.
The spokesperson said the department has completed the assessment in the remaining around 8500 cases for 2014-15 and initiated the process to settle these cases by asking the traders to deposit just 30% of the tax liability. Giving further relief to them, they will only have to deposit 20 percent of the aforesaid tax liability during the current fiscal and the balance 80 percent by the end of the next financial year.
The state government is fully committed to creating a conducive ecosystem for ease of doing business in the state. The fulsome support to trade and industry will help Punjab to emerge as the front-runner state across the country. This industry-friendly initiative would go a long way to instill confidence and boost morale to invest in the State, the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson said the taxation department has also initiated a process for faceless administration of GST and VAT, under which traders and industrialists have not to be physically present before taxation officers.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had earlier announced the decision at the Progressive Punjab Investors Summit in Ludhiana.