Thiruvananthapuram: Finance minister T.M. Thomas Isaac on Friday said the state government has decided to stop sending Value Added Tax (VAT) penalty notices to traders.
Mr Isaac, while replying to a notice for adjournment motion moved by V.D. Satheesan of the Congress in the Assembly on Friday, said the government would take a decision on recalling the notices already issued after consultation with the law department. The present crisis was due to the errors committed by the officials who sent the notices based on the computer generated dues.
There were errors in the modules in the computers which resulted in the present situation, said Mr Isaac. He said the government has decided not to take any action against the traders. The government was committed to collect tax arrears. However, it did not wish to act in an arbitrary manner, said Mr Isaac.
He admitted that there were errors in the calculation of overdue taxes. These errors will be rectified. Speaker P.Sreeramakrishnan refused discussion on the issue on the basis of the answer by the minister, following which the opposition walked out of the assembly. Deputy leader of the Congress party K. C. Joseph said before the walkout that the government itself has admitted making a mistake.
Mr Satheeshan raised the incident of suicide of a trader, Mathai Daniel after receiving a penalty notice of Rs 27 lakh as the aggregate dues of previous years' default on VAT.
Mr Satheesan described the notices as carpet bombing by the government against the traders. He also alleged that the finance minister had no control over the finance department.
