The Times of India           07.10.2013 

Traders pay Rs 11cr LBT to Sangli Miraj Kupwad municipal corporation

KOLHAPUR: The Sangli Miraj Kupwad (SMK) municipal corporation on Sunday said that the civic body has recently received Rs 11.5 crore as local body tax (LBT) from traders in the city. The new tax system was introduced in May this year.

The civic administration said that the traders have slowly started submitting LBT. Earlier, the traders had decided not to pay tax under the new system.

SMK municipal corporation deputy commissioner Omprakash Divatay said that the civic body heard the grievances of more than 150 traders, who paid LBT. "Some of them have paid less due to some reasons. However, they have been asked to pay the remaining amount in the next few days to avoid facing any penalty," Divatay said.

"Notices were issued to liquor shops and restaurants serving alcohol, as they are major tax payers, followed by electrical and electronics equipment distributors. Garment and cloth merchants are big businessmen and major tax payers. The civic body does not have details of the traders, their business activities and turnover. Hence, the self-assessment clause was introduced in the new tax system. A trader is expected to assess his or her own business and pay tax," he added.

The SMK civic body was one of the last corporations to introduce the tax in areas under its jurisdiction. The traders had first opposed the tax structure, but more than 5,000 have businessmen have got enrolled for it. The corporation is expecting a similar number of traders to obtain their registration numbers and start paying the taxes. Divatay said the corporation has received total tax worth Rs 4 crore in this month.

Corporation officials said these traders would have paid Rs nine crore a month in the form of octroi, but have not paid the LBT in protest against the new tax structure. Earlier, the corporation had made several appeals to the traders for getting registered with the authority for tax payment, but only 50% have registered so far.

Civic officials also held awareness programmes for traders on calculation and assessment of taxes. LBT rules have put the onus of tax assessment on the traders, who earlier used to criticize that civic officials deliberately formulate higher amount of taxes.