TAMILNADU - Govt urged to make uniform vat rate of 1 pc for all teas

Tea Trade Association of Coimbatore (TTAC) has urged the Tamil Nadu Government to make uniform VAT rate of one per cent for all teas sold through auction centres at the first point of sale. In his address to the TTAC's 29th Annual General Meeting, its Chairman N Anand said the government chose to ignore their repeated genuine appeals and continued to levy different VAT rates in the auctions--one per cent for Bought Leaf Factory teas and five per cent for corporate teas. "To add insult to injury, the Government on the contrary increased VAT by one per cent (four to five). This has certainly affected our Auction Center very badly, as exporters have shifted their buying to Cochin where there is no VAT on export purchases," Anand pointed out. Moreover, dual vat on tea created unhealthy competition between auction centers, affecting growth prospects of an auction centre like Coimbatore, he said. It was high time Government corrected the anomaly and provided a level playing field to all tea producers in the state, as there is no revenue loss due to making uniform vat rate of one per cent at first point of sale, he said. This move would only ensure more exporters' participation, thus giving a great boost to our auction Center, Anand said. The association also urged Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to organize workshops to properly educate the trade to ensure smooth transition from VAT to the proposed Goods and Services Tax, before implementing it in Tamil Nadu, Anand added.