The Times of India            01.10.2013 

Civic body cracks down on traders

AURANGABAD: Acting tough on dealers who may been evading the local body tax (LBT), the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Monday seized three trucks to cross-check the tax amount disclosed by dealers on the goods these vehicles were carrying.

Civic body officials said that prima facie, it appears that the goods should bring in LBT in the range of Rs 30 lakh. The dealers had instead paid only Rs 7.5 lakh as LBT.

Deputy municipal commissioner Suresh Petgaonkar said that AMC officers were examining bills by calling all the concerned dealers. "The trucks were carrying goods of various dealers in the city. It has been found that most of the bills are duplicate. We have asked the officials to recalculate the tax amount and impose penalties on the dealers," Petgaonkar told TOI on Monday. As per guidelines, the civic body can impose a penalty up to five times the actual LBT amount.

Petgaonkar said he had noticed that some Aurangabad dealers were offering false information while importing goods through transport companies. "It seems that the practice has been going on for quite some time now. Many dealers who were caught in today's action were paying a lesser tax amount than what they should be paying. We will check their previous bills and take action against them if they are found to be guilty," he said.

"We have also noticed that many dealers had not registered their firms with the LBT department. We have now planned an aggressive drive against all the transport companies engaged in such activities," he said.

Petgaonkar said LBT officers will continue to check and seize trucks for a month. "We have decided to cross-check one or two trucks every day to curb this illegal practice," he said.

Petgaonkar said that some dealers were duping the civic body with duplicate bills for goods. "In many cases, dealers disclosed photocopies of the bills with 'adjustments' made in the bill amount. Some have paid an LBT amount over a declared gross bill amount of Rs 5,000, while the goods actually cost over Rs 50,000. We have repeatedly asked all dealers to furnish original bills while paying LBT," he said.

AMC standing committee chairman Narayan Kuche has been raising the LBT issue over the past few months. He had said that the civic body could consolidate its LBT collection by strengthening its system. Under the LBT format, dealers have to disclose their monthly turnover and pay the tax in the following month. In the current financial year, the municipal body is eyeing Rs 200 crore as tax amount from the 20,700 registered dealers operating in the AMC limits.