GST round the corner, VAT dealers a harried lot

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 23

The Goods and Services Tax is set to be applicable from July 1, but this has become a cause of worry for the Value Added Tax (VAT) dealers who have their refunds pending.

Sources said approximately Rs 100-crore refunds were pending with the tax department. With little time left for the GST to be applicable, traders are now worried.

Although the department has been instructed to clear all pending refunds by June 30, but several traders have alleged that their applications were being cleared at a snail’s pace.

“Refunds worth hundred crores are lying pending, but the department seems to be in no hurry to clear them. Even the existing refunds are not getting cleared, let alone the pending refunds,” said Vinay Kansal, a hosiery manufacture.

Badish Jindal, Chairman of the Federation of Association of Small Industries of India, said a huge amount of refunds were still pending with the department. “In addition to this, the department is on a spree to issue notices for the pending assessment cases,” he said.

Another small-scale manufacture, Varinder Gambhir, said whenever he went to the department to enquire about his pending refund, he got the reply that the department was short of funds.

Another cycle parts manufacture said his huge amount of refund was pending with the department. He said some manufacturers have refund worth crores pending with the department. “We are hopeful that we won’t incur losses due to the application of GST,” he added.