Dhumal for formulating new excise policy

Shimla, Jul 25 (UNI) The Himachal Pradesh is considering to formulate new excise policy to meet the requirements based upon the different geophysical conditions prevalent in the state.

This was stated by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal while reviewing the functioning, targets and achievements of the Excise and Taxation Department in a meeting held here today.

He said that the state had been implementing the Punjab Excise Act of 1914, which had become redundant with a number of amendments carried out from time to time and keeping in view the requirements of the present day.

He said that the state government would soon be preparing a draft excise policy for the state after taking all related aspects into consideration which would be more practical and based on the ground realities.

The Chief Minister said that Excise and Taxation Department had targeted to generate revenue to the tune of Rs 1,976 crore for the current financial year, out of which Rs 464.07 crore had already been collected.

Mr Dhumal said that the state had introduced various simplified lump-sum schemes for revenue collection and tax payments, which saves the traders from the required codal formalities required for furnishing the returns to the state government.

He said that the tax system in the state was much simple as compared to other states and the rate of tax on majority of items was less as well.

The Chief Minister directed the authorities to check the smuggling of various taxable items on the borders of the state and deal with the errants strictly as per the legal provisions.

He said that need had emerged to modernise the multipurpose barriers on the borders of the state to effectively check the goods being transported into and outside the state.

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