The Hynniewtrep Youths Council (HYC) has objected to the one-time settlement scheme open to petrol pumps that have not kept up with their taxation requirements.
In a letter to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, HYC general secretary Roy Kupar Synrem said that another scheme for electricity defaulters, which were especially beneficial for large industrial units, cost the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Ltd (MeECL), which is already struggling financially, more than Rs 150 crore, which is a huge amount and one that cannot be repeated.
Stating that the Taxation Department is implementing the “One Time Settlement (OTS) Scheme” for recovery of outstanding value-added tax (VAT) from over 230 petrol pumps across the state and that the concerned department has failed to realize the outstanding amount of Rs 650 crore approximately from these petrol pumps in the last three years as VAT, Synrem said, “If this practice of OTS is to be extended to the petrol pumps in the state, in payment of VAT, by waiving 30 percent of the taxable amount, it will cause a loss of approximately Rs 195 crore to Meghalaya’s revenue collection for the last three years.”
How the department can implement such a scheme, the HYC fails to understand when, under the Meghalaya VAT Act, penalties of 2 percent simple interest accrue for those who fall behind in their payment of tax.
Given the provisions of the act, the HYC asked if it is not illegal for the department to come up with this questionable scheme when the law is clear that a defaulter should be penalized.
“Is it not incumbent upon the department concerned to pursue the matter of these tax defaulters in the appropriate forum or the competent court of law and realize the outstanding taxes as well as interests payable, if any, instead of providing the opportunity to pay less than they ought to?” the HYC said.
There is absolutely no excuse for these pumps not paying the tax to the government, Synrem said, because, after all, it is not they but the consumers who pay the tax at the time of refuelling their vehicles. It is simply a matter of the petrol pump owners passing on the tax that they collect on behalf of the government to the state exchequer, which can range between Rs 12-13 per litre of diesel and Rs 17-18 per litre of petrol.
“This taxable amount is being paid by the consumers and not by the dealers as a contribution towards the state’s development programmes. Therefore, how is it legal or logical that the hard-earned money paid by the general public as a contribution to the government in the form of taxes be given away to these dealers who are already earning as commission from every litre of fuel that they sell?” Synrem said, adding that the state government should consider refunding taxes from the consumers, not the business owners.
