Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal on Sunday announced a number of sops for the trading community, including abolition of the market fee on small traders with annual turnover of up to Rs 5 lakh, change in the upper financial limit for VAT/CST refund, an annual award scheme for those who paid maximum taxes and formation of district level traders advisory committees.
The Chief Minister while addressing a ‘Virat Vyapari Sammelan’ in Kurukshetra said that Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner would be competent to allow VAT/CST refund of up to Rs 25 lakh whereas the additional excise and taxation commissioner or other officer at the headquarters, would be competent to allow VAT/CST refund of over Rs 25 lakh.
He said that the district level traders advisory committees would help in redressing petty grievances of traders. The government has also decided to fix the collector rate of immovable property equal to the market rate. This would be implemented from April 1, 2017 to ensure complete transparency in the system, said he.
The Chief Minister said that the government had principally agreed to provide insurance cover to traders as well as other people to bring them under the ambit of social security. Under the scheme, traders would have to deposit only a part of the premium while the remaining amount would be paid by the government.
One lakh CCTV cameras would be installed next year at public places all over the state for security purposes. The government has already installed about two lakh CCTV cameras. The traders should install such cameras inside and at the main gate of their shops. Besides, they should also adopt online modes of transactions to prevent any kind of trouble, he said.
Referring to the Goods and Service Tax (GST) which is expected to be implemented from July 1, he said that traders having annual turnover over Rs 20 lakh, would have to register themselves by March 31, 2017. More than 62 per cent traders have already been registered so far and the remaining would hopefully be covered by March 31. The traders would get rid of the inspector raj after the GST regime, the biggest tax reform, is ushered in, he added.
The Chief Minister said that rates of electricity would be reduced from anything between 16 paisa and 16 paisa per unit, from April 1, 2017. This would also help the traders as the government is supplying 24-hour electricity where line losses are zero.
The State Government has set up Traders Welfare Board to address the problems and issues of traders in the state. Apart from rolling out of the new Enterprises Promotion Policy, the government has signed MoU worth Rs 7 lakh crore at the Global Investors Summit held in Gurugram. Out of these, 150 MoUs have materialized which would provide employment opportunities to about one lakh people, said he.
"We are ensuring proper law and order as well as transparent governance in the state", he added.
Speaking on this occasion, the Finance Minister, Capt. Abhimanyu said that he would provide all kinds of assistance for the welfare of traders.
Though a small state, Haryana is contributing over 3.5 per cent to the country’s GDP, and the credit goes to our traders and entrepreneurs. After 50 years of existence, Haryana has now a budget which is bigger than Punjab, he added.
Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Urban local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain, state BJP president Subhash Barala among others also spoke on the occasion.