I think the traders are leading us citizens up the garden path. I read an advert by the Govt in the newspaper that the LBT is in place of octroi. As there were massive leakages in octroi, the govt abolished it and levied the LBT which is calculated on the value of the goods brought in from outside the city limits.
This would affect the big traders, because the small traders source most of their stuff locally. No doubt the tax levy would be passed on to the small traders when they made their purchases locally, and ultimately to the consumers.
BTW the LBT has already been in operation in other municipalities, and it will be introduced in Mumbai in Oct. To introduce this tax in Mumbai it needs to be ratified by the municipality and hence the present lobbying by the traders.
At present the traders fudge their sales, with the introduction of this tax, they will have to maintain records and pay taxes like every other business and individuals above the taxable exemption limit. K
My friend K sent me the above information putting things in perspective.
Thanks K for correcting my misconceptions. Obviously I do need to get my facts correct before making any judgements. So it would also seem that the small shop keepers who have not downed their shutters are actually decent tax payers who have the guts to stand up to the bullies who just want to continue with their unfair trading practices.
Well if that’s the case I’m all for the LBT.
This afternoon when I went down to get some groceries I was reminded of my childhood days when shops had empty shelves, shortages were the ord of the day and we had to make do with what we got. It is a darn shame that afte all these years nothing seems to have changed.
—Posted By bellybytes to MUMBAI DAILY at 5/11/2013 08:25:00 AM
Twenty- five Seven 