Patna: At times of high inflation and rising prices, Bihar Government is planning to burn a hole in the pocket of consumers by levying State Entry Tax on items bought through Online Retailers like Flipkart, Amazon, Ebay etc.
The Online Retailers like Flipkart provide Mobile Phones at reduced prices
An Entry Tax varying between 4 to 12% is currently charged on items exceeding Rs 25000 in price.
According to a report in Hindi Daily Hindustan, the Government is contemplating to remove this limit of Rs 25000 and an entry tax upto 12% would be charged on all items bought through E-tailers. The State Revenue Department has already prepared a proposal for this, which is likely to be approved by the State Cabinet by next month. The Government estimates to raise an additional Rs. 3000 Crores from this in the next financial year.
In the proposed tax regime, the courier company would collect the additional tax amount, while delivering goods at the doorstep and it would be the company’s responsibility to deposit the same with State’s Revenue Department.
So, while you may get lofty discounts at online shops, you might end up paying much more while taking the delivery of the product.
Bihar is one of the few states, which already charge Value Added Tax (VAT) on goods purchased online. Now this additional burden of tax would shutter consumer’s dream of getting cheap discounts online.
A lot has been debated about the viability of discounts provided by online retailers. This has met an stiff opposition from local traders who complain of shortened sales especially in Electronic gadgets segment of market.