Business bandh against VAT on March 26

AHMEDABAD: Traders across Gujarat will down shutters on Wednesday to lodge their protest against the implementation of value added tax (VAT) in the state.
Representatives of traders’ associations have also decided to meet finance minister Vajubhai Vala on Wednesday to register their grievances and explain their concern over the VAT Bill, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) president Mahendra Shah said.
“Traders across the state will observe a day-long bandh tomorrow even as a team of representatives will leave at 11 am from GCCI to meet Vajubhai,� he added.
Over 1000 traders from around 150 trade and industry associations of North Gujarat, Saurashtra and Central Gujarat met at the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry premises here on Tuesday and took a decision to keep all trading establishments closed to express their anger over the VAT bill.
Calling it anti-merchant, Mahendra Shah said it was draconian. “One of the biggest drawbacks of the Bill is that stocks and godowns of traders can be sealed, books of accounts seized, and merchants fined and jailed,� he said.
Meanwhile, a total bandh was observed by chemists and druggists on Tuesday to protest against the ambiguities in implementing the VAT. "The bandh was complete and successful", claimed Rajendra Patel, president of the Federation of Gujarat State Chemists & Druggists Association (FGSCDA).
“The Gujarat government is going to introduce the Bill on VAT on Wednesday and we hope that our demands will be considered. Our next step will depend on the measures introduced by the GoG as well as the decisions taken by our parent body, the All India Organisation of Chemists & Druggists (AIOCD),� said Patel.
He said that over 12,000 FGSCDA members took part in the bandh in Gujarat. “Except for a few emergency stores at certain hospitals all other units were closed,� said Patel.
The pharmaceuticals business comprises over 30000 products and it is impossible for a chemist to keep a record of each item sold on a daily basis and then compute the VAT on each product, said Patel. "We have asked the government to take VAT in advance by collecting it at one go when it comes out of the factory — the wholesaler''s and retailer''s tax also be collected at this point itself. This way the government gets its taxes in advance and the wholesalers and retailers are saved from maintaining huge records which are time- consuming and costly as well,� said Patel.