Friday, January 17, 2014: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday supported the Federation of Associations of Maharashtra’s (FAM) demand for another tax regime to take out Local Body Tax (LBT) from the state. AAP leaders in a meeting with the trade body backed the alternate proposal which was made by a FAM-appointed panel headed by former municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar.
As cited on indianexpress.com, AAP national convenor Mayank Gandhi stated that the traders’ association had put forth an alternate efficient source of revenue in place of octroi or LBT through which government could garner more revenue by simply increasing the value added tax (VAT) by one per cent. He said that, “The traders don’t mind paying tax, but they have issues with regard to another level of license raj. In places where the LBT has been in force, traders face a lot of harassment and corruption. Simplifying tax system is in line with our party’s ideology, and is something which our government in Delhi is already working towards”.
FAM who has submitted its proposal to the state government is planning to launch a state-wide agitation in February if the government does not respond.
