FINANCE MINISTRY WANTS TO RAISE TAX WITH RETROSPECTIVE EFFECT, TRAVEL AGENTS WANT 5-YEAR CUSHION INSTEAD
GANGTOK, 14 June: In what is being claimed as the biggest setback for the tourism industry in the region, especially Sikkim, the Finance Ministry has dampened aspirations here by imposing Service Tax on all tourism service providers in the Northeast and demanding that the account be settled with retrospective effect.
Acting on directions of the Ministry, the Office of the Commissioner, Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax Headquarters, Anti Evasion Unit, Siliguri Commissionerate has started issuing summon notices to service providers in Sikkim, directing them to submit details of the service tax with retrospective effect from 01 April 2006 which is also the date the service taxes were extended to all Northeastern states.
Addressing a press conference here today, the newly formed Joint Action Committee for Sikkim Tourism Stakeholders which is an apex committee of representatives of Travel Agents Association of Sikkim [TAAS], Sikkim Association of Adventure Tour Operators [SAATO] and Sikkim Hotel & Restaurant Association [SHRA] has appealed that the Finance Ministry include Service tax exemption under North- East Industrial Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP) and further waive the retrospective clause.
GANGTOK, 14 June: In what is being claimed as the biggest setback for the tourism industry in the region, especially Sikkim, the Finance Ministry has dampened aspirations here by imposing Service Tax on all tourism service providers in the Northeast and demanding that the account be settled with retrospective effect.
Acting on directions of the Ministry, the Office of the Commissioner, Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax Headquarters, Anti Evasion Unit, Siliguri Commissionerate has started issuing summon notices to service providers in Sikkim, directing them to submit details of the service tax with retrospective effect from 01 April 2006 which is also the date the service taxes were extended to all Northeastern states.
Addressing a press conference here today, the newly formed Joint Action Committee for Sikkim Tourism Stakeholders which is an apex committee of representatives of Travel Agents Association of Sikkim [TAAS], Sikkim Association of Adventure Tour Operators [SAATO] and Sikkim Hotel & Restaurant Association [SHRA] has appealed that the Finance Ministry include Service tax exemption under North- East Industrial Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP) and further waive the retrospective clause.
