Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi here on Wednesday told the members of trade and industry at the Bihar Industries Association (BIA) office that the Goods and Services Tax-Network (GST-N) being created under information technology network by a committee headed by Nandan Nilekani would bring into one fold the particulars of Central excise tax, service tax and income tax to be paid by any business organization.

The registration under GST-N would be PAN-based, he said, adding that this would keep a total check on tax evasion. Stating that honest payment of tax helps all, he said that in Maharashtra alone Rs 7,000 tax evasion was detected in three months period.

Modi was felicitated by BIA chairman KPS Keshri and other members for discharging efficiently his duty of chairman, Authorised Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST. Modi had to face barrage of questions from some BIA members regarding imposition of fuel surcharge from retrospective effect which, they said, has jeopardized the prospect of the industries in Bihar, with many of them going sick and facing closure.

He said that many state electricity boards were suffering due to hike in power rates. Due to less availability of coal in the country, coal is being imported forcing the NTPC to seek higher rate of the electricity generated by it. Modi, however, said that he would take up the BIA demand with regard to imposition of fuel surcharge by the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) with the ministry concerned. He said that the Bihar government has to pay subsidy of Rs 120 crore every year to the BSEB.

Stating that the commercial taxes department would be largely computerized, Modi said that not only online e-payment of VAT by the commercial concerns was important, but also the cross verification of such payment by the commercial department officials was essentially to check any tax evasion. Bringing a new Bill in this regard is being discussed by the state cabinet, he added, while lamenting that a section of government officials were always in search of loopholes in the system.

On complaints of the BIA members that the online system for filing e-return on IT services provided by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was not connected easily while the government has made filing of online return of taxes mandatory, Modi replied that the problem would end with TCS using a new server soon for e-return for state's business organizations. He said that the date of VAT online payment has been extended to November 15.

He said that the Central government decision regarding imposition of five per cent tax on sale of textiles, excluding handloom and khadi clothes, by the state governments from April 2011 had been finally cleared by the Authorised Committee. As the Central government has stopped taxing the textiles, the state governments have been given the right to impose tax, he said.

Modi said that during his recent tour to Europe he found that the people there have to pay a standard rate of single tax ranging from 15 percent to 25 percent. He said that at the meeting of a number of developing, but poor countries of Africa at the London School of Economics, Bihar's participation was significant. Growth rate of Bihar has made the participants to feel that if Bihar has improved from its once fragile economy, the poor countries of Africa could also follow such path of development. Modi said that a girl from the audience asked him as to why should not some Bihari officials be sent to Pakistan for catalyzing development there. (Times of India)