Odisha govt extends VAT rebate on pulses till March 31

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Saturday extended the value added tax (VAT) concession from 5 per cent to 1 per cent on pulses for another three months.

The state cabinet extended the VAT relaxation till March 2017.

“It has been decided to extend the time limit for reduced VAT on pulses for a further period of three months from January 1 to March 31,” said chief secretary AP Padhi.

The state government expects that it would benefit the consumers.

It had earlier extended the VAT relaxation from October 1 to December 31 in order to enable the commissioner of commercial taxes to make an assessment of the impact of the tax reduction.

On June 30, the VAT rate was reduced from 5 per cent to 1 per cent on pulses of all kinds for three months with effect from July 1 following the demand of traders’ association.

Meanwhile, the commissioner of commercial taxes has assessed that the state government would incur a loss of Rs 7 crore for every three months.