India, China traders clueless about impact of GST : The Tribune India

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India, China traders clueless about impact of GST

SHIMLA: Even as the nation prepares to usher in the GST era from next month, traders from the tribal district of Kinnaur, who take part in Indo-China trade every year, are clueless about the implications of this new tax regime.



Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 21

Even as the nation prepares to usher in the GST era from next month, traders from the tribal district of Kinnaur, who take part in Indo-China trade every year, are clueless about the implications of this new tax regime.

It is to remove all such apprehensions on the part of the traders that the Indo-China Traders Association has requested the Kinnaur district administration to organize a workshop for the traders so that they can know if and how they would be affected by the enforcement of the GST. The Association has requested that the Excise and Taxation Department must educate the traders about the impact if at all of the GST on Indo-China trade.

So far about 102 traders, all hailing from various villages of Kinnaur, have applied before the Trade Officer for issuing them trade permits to go across into the Tibetan part of China to barter products. Though officially the trade period is from June 1 to November 30 the volume of trade picks up only towards the end. The list of items to be included in the trade is issued by the Union Ministry of Commerce.

“Since most of the traders do not have much knowledge about the new taxation system that will come into force from July 1 so we have requested the authorities to hold a workshop to make them aware about its implications,” said Hishey Negi, president of the Indo-China Traders Association. He said since trade picks up only after August, the workshop is likely to held in mid-July.

Negi said the Industry Department has also sent the proposal to the State Government for granting Rs 2 crore to set up a trade centre at Chuppan so that the traders do not face inconvenience.

Though the Association has approached the government and the foreign trade officials to allow livestock trade but the demand is yet to be met. Most of the traders point out that the India-China trade has lost its charm to a great extent due to ban on import of livestock. As per the list of trade items prepared by the Customs Department, a total of 36 items figure on the export list while the import list stands at 20.

The trade which had remained sluggish till 2011, picked up considerably as 12 new trade items were added in 2012. As part of normalization of relations between India and China, the trading post at Shipki La, at a height of almost 18,600 feet, was thrown open in 1994.

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