LBT exemptions for traders with less than Rs 50cr turnover yearly

Though the Maharashtra government is firm on its announcement of scrapping the Local Body Tax (LBT) from August 1, the exemptions to traders come with a catch.

Though the Maharashtra government is firm on its announcement of scrapping the Local Body Tax (LBT) from August 1, the exemptions to traders come with a catch. Businessmen with an annual turnover of more than Rs 50 crore will not be exempted from the tax.

In the supplementary demand of Rs 14,793 crore tabled by the government on Monday, the government stated that though the state will bear the burden for scrapping the LBT, the exemption will be for smaller traders. The traders below the annual turnover of Rs 50 crore will not have to pay the tax and the state will bear the burden of the exemption.

The state has made a provision of Rs 2,098 crore to make up for the financial loss because of the scrapping. Though the provision has been made for the period between August and December 2015, officials from the financial department said the loss till March 2016 is expected to be more than Rs 3,500 crore.

“The limit of the annual turnover of Rs 50 crore is to ensure that the burden of the tax of goods exported to other states is not put on the people of Maharashtra,” he said.

The government is expected to allow 25 corporations, excluding the BMC, to collect stamp duty on real estate transactions to make up for the loss of the scrapping of the LBT. In a way, the provision made in the supplementary demand is to make up for the loss owing to the handing over of the right of stamp duty collection.