File photo of Sukhbir Singh Badal
The Punjab government has decided to introduce single-stage taxation at the factory level on branded products in a bid to simplify tax collection.
The move is aimed at giving relief to thousands of small traders and retailers, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said yesterday.
Presiding over a meeting of ministers and officials in Chandigarh, Mr Badal said a new "Traders' Policy" would be announced on November 14.
He said single-stage taxation would be introduced for all "kirana" (grocery) items, all white goods (including televisions and refrigerators), medicines and branded shoes.
"More branded products are likely to be taken in the ambit of single stage tax in phases," he said.
The single-stage taxation should be introduced from December 1, he said.
Ministers and leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), part of the alliance government with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the state, also attended the meeting.
Mr Badal announced that 200 traders would be awarded at the time of unveiling the policy for paying the highest amount of taxes in various categories.
He said the government was committed to make all work related to traders and business paperless. Taxation procedures will also be simplified.
"The new policy would ensure that traders would not have to visit any government office for any purpose, including payments and sales tax," he said.
Punjab has around 2.50 lakh traders, of whom only some comply with rules. A spokesman said only about 900 traders paid tax of over Rs 1 crore annually, while a large section do not pay any value-added tax (VAT).