India plans biggest tax reform
AFP, New Delhi
India will push ahead with its most-ambitious tax reform ever next month even if some of its 28 states fail to sign up, the head of a committee of state finance ministers said in reports Tuesday. Asim Dasgupta, chairman of the panel, said Value Added Tax (VAT) will come into force April 1, although several states including the most-populous Uttar Pradesh are hesitant about signing up, reports said. "Make no mistake about it. VAT will not be deferred, irrespective of whether Uttar Pradesh joins," Dasgupta said after a marathon meeting of state finance minister late Monday, the Press Trust of India reported. Uttar Pradesh has 120 million people. The tiny eastern state of Jharkhand has also said it is not ready to join VAT while western Rajasthan and central Madhya Pradesh are expressing doubts. The tax, agreed at a meeting of state finance ministers in New Delhi in June, is designed to cut multiple layers of other taxes, boost revenues, reduce inter-state barriers to trade and make accounting more transparent.
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