Amaravati, Nov 18 (PTI): Traders in Andhra Pradesh on Friday lamented that the tax authorities were ‘squeezing’ them like “gulab jamun and rasgolla”.
Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath, however, sought to mollify them saying the authorities would hereafter be “as smooth as extracting the nectar” without pinching the flower.
“Like Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan…Jai Businessmen is our slogan. We will reduce the raids (on businesses) and use data analytics and artificial intelligence to plug leakages,” Buggana, who also holds the commercial taxes portfolio, said.
The issue came up at the Trade Advisory Committee meeting of Vijayawada Zone, where several businessmen complained that there was no transparency in tax collection.
“Many officials of the Commercial Taxes Department seem to lack basic understanding of taxation and hence they are resorting to harassment,” the traders and dealers complained.
“They (officials) are treating us like gulab jamun and rasgolla. They are squeezing us,” the traders protested.
Sensing trouble, the authorities prevented other traders from addressing the meeting even as the Minister tried to appease them.
Along with Jai Jawan and Jai Kisan, Jai Businessmen was the current government’s slogan, he said.
“When I was a businessman, tax consultants used to advise me on the ways to avoid tax. But we should not follow unethical practices and avoid tax as government have been running only on tax revenue for ages,” Buggana pointed out.
The Minister assured the agitated traders that the Trade Advisory Committee meetings would henceforth be conducted every quarter to address their grievances.
He also promised to prevent tax raids on small and marginal businessmen.
“We will bring in liberal policies in consultation with the traders,” Buggana said.
Commercial Taxes Secretary Natarajan Gulzar, Chief Commissioner of State Taxes M Girija Shankar and other officials attended. PTI DBV ROH ROH
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