In Bihar, the state government incorporated a ‘one-time settlement‘ initiative for the advantage of traders with tax obligations back to the time when the GST was about to launch.
The Bihar Tax Disputes Settlement Bill, 2024 was tabled in the state assembly through Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, who also carries the finance portfolio.
In the assembly the Bill was passed through a voice vote, and, as per Choudhary, once reported, “it will bring comfort to traders with pre-GST tax obligations“.
“The Bill furnishes the traders with a chance to settle their pre-GST tax obligations via the one-time settlement scheme. It needs the traders to pay 10 per cent of the penalty and the left 90 per cent will be exempted. Traders need to pay 35 per cent of the disputed tax amount to get an exemption of the remaining 65 per cent,” Choudhary stated.
Traders are mandated to file both 10 per cent of the interest and penalty and 35 per cent of the disputed tax to claim such utility.
He also mentioned that the government has “accepted the demand of petrol pump owners that they be waived from filing VAT returns“.
The announcements came at the end of a day of the budget session, which started a fortnight ago when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar won a trust vote after building the new government in alliance with the BJP.
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The assembly has passed an amendment to the Bihar State Madarsa Education Board Act, Bihar State Minorities Commission Act, and Bihar State Sanskrit Education Act through voice vote.
