JOIN USThe state government has made imposition of surcharge or additional tax effective from today on goods including petrol and diesel other than the declared goods under section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act.
The move comes after the approval of Punjab cabinet to the report that suggested sweeping reforms in taxation structure to mop up additional revenue of Rs 4,000 crore.
After the implementation of surcharge on VAT, petrol rates has shot up to Rs 50.41, Rs 50.38 and Rs 50.39 a litre in Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana respectively. Similarly, diesel rates per litre now stands at Rs 32.81 in Amritsar, Rs 32.76 in Jalandhar and Rs 32.79 in Ludhiana.
Punjab levies VAT at 27.5 per cent on petrol and 8.8 per cent on diesel. With the imposition of surcharge on VAT, the effective VAT rate on petrol and diesel worked out at 30.25 per cent and 9.68 per cent.
Chastising the state government for imposing surcharge, Punjab Petroleum Dealers' Association President, J P Khanna said because of surcharge on VAT in Punjab, petrol prices in Punjab would be costlier by Rs 5-6 a litre compared with petrol rate prevailing in Haryana and Chandigarh.
Khanna said that the state government had assured to lift octroi on petrol and diesel after levying surcharge on VAT. "But the government has not kept its words which will hit the fuel sales in the state," he said.
He claimed that Punjab was the only state in the country which imposes octroi on petrol (1 per cent) and diesel (2 per cent). The Punjab government had recently imposed entry tax on several items including diesel, cement, plywood etc with effect from February 5 which would lead to collection of Rs 100 crore as additional revenue to the state.