The retailers operating in shopping malls/Cantonment Boards, retail part of national/multinational chains, having air conditioned retail outlets, owners of separate warehouses or with monthly electricity bill of Rs 10,000 would be compulsorily registered with sales tax under the new documentation plan to be announced in budget (2014-15).
Sources told Business Recorder on Wednesday that a new registration plan for retailers to be announced in budget (2014-15) under which thousands of retailers would be compulsorily registered with the sales tax department without condition of Rs 5 million annual threshold. The new documentation plan would be announced in coming budget with specific focus on compulsory registration of retailers. Whether these retailers fall under the condition of annual registration threshold of Rs 5 million or not, they would be registered with the sales tax department.
The documentation plan (2014-15) has estimated to register thousands of retailers across the country following amendments in the Sales Tax Act, 1990 through Finance Bill, 2014. The documentation plan further revealed that the retailers in posh areas would also be compulsorily registered with the sales tax department. This would cover retailers operating in posh areas where property rates are higher.
It has been decided to register the following categories of retailers under the documentation plan (2014-15) without threshold of Rs 5 million: Retailers operating an air conditioned outlet; retailers operating in A-Category areas of Excise and Taxation Department and having outlet area of 200 sft and above; retailers operating in the jurisdiction of the Cantonment Boards and having outlet area of 200 sft and above; retailers having electricity bill for the past 12 months exceeding Rs 120,000 (Rs 10,000 per month); retailers operating as part of national/multinational chains; retailers who own a separate warehouse and retailers operating in air-conditioned shopping malls excluding kiosks.
Presently, retailers having annual turnover of Rs 5 million and above are required to be registered under the Sales Tax Act, 1990. Sales tax is required to be paid on the basis of quarterly turnover at the following rates: Where quarterly turnover is up to Rs 1.25 million, the sales tax rate is nil; quarterly turnover is more than Rs 1.25 million and up to Rs 2.5 million, the sales tax rate is 0.5 percent of turnover which is in excess of Rs 1.25 million and where quarterly turnover is more than Rs 2.5 million, sales tax rate applicable on retailers is Rs 6,250 plus 0.75 percent of turnover which is in excess of Rs 2.5 million.
Comments
Comments are closed.