Candles, bricks exempted from tax

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

New Delhi, Mar 20: Finance Minister P Chidamabaram today announced exemption of candles and bricks from excise duty and coronary stent from customs duty, even while clarifying that the anonymous contribution to religious institutions will not be taxed.

However, he put his foot down in respect to the demand for giving income tax exemption to anonymous contribution to educational and charitable institutions.

Replying to debate on the Finance Bill for 2006-07 in the Lok Sabha, which was later passed by voice vote, Mr Chidambaram also announced that the import duty on poly chips and carbon black would be reduced to 10 per cent from 12.5 per cent.

He defended his budget proposal to tax on marbles, saying that ''it is not a poor man's product.'' The minister clarified that the tax was only on cutting and polishing which had been a thriving business. ''Cutting and polishing of marble amount to manufacture,'' he told a BJP member who sought exemption of marble from excise duty.

Accepting the demand of members from Kerala, the minister announced exemption from excise duty for manually operated rubber roller machines and copra dryer. ''These are small machines and need no aid of power.'' He said food supplements, supplied free of cost, to weaker sections will continue to be exempted from tax .

Mr Chidamabaram clarified that soaps manufactured by units which are not small and tiny would have to pay excise duty. However, those units with an annual turnover of up to Rs one crore would not attract this tax.

He said scented supari with a MRP tag of paise 50 has been exempted from excise duty.

The Minister clarified that the eight per cent duty was proposed in the budget only for packaged software and it would not be applicable to customised sofware. ''The duty is applicable only to the software sold off the shelf in the market.''

Mr Chidambaram said the excise duty exemption was being restored to candles and bricks keeping in view the sentiments raised by members who argued that they were not generally power driven industry. On the demand of members to give more concession in income tax to salary earning section, he said ''A government should not go on tinkering with the rates and slabs ever year.'' He clarified that coir products were not sought to be taxed.

Referring to plea by members to withdraw the excise duty on umbrellas, Mr Chidambaram said the duty was bring proposed only at the request of the industry and also the ministry of small industries. The manufacturers of domestic umbrella wanted excise duty in view of stiff competition from a country, obviously meaning China.

Mr Chidambaram defended the proposal to making it mandatory on the part of a section of the cooperative banks in the country to file annual income tax returns. This would be applicable only in the case of 2,288 banks in the category of urban cooperatives, states cooperatives, central cooperatives and state cooperative agricultural rural development banks.

''Many of these banks are mismanaged and the new step will help to ensure some discipline in their functioning.''

UNI

Related stories

Lok Sabha passes Finance Bill by voice vote
Budget 2006-07

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X