Thiruvananthapuram: Rubber farmers in the state, according to the Public Expenditure Review Committee, are having it easy. The tax revenue contributed by the rubber sector has been described by the Committee as “dismal” though rubber commands the most remunerative prices among agricultural commodities. The Committee’s observation is widely seen as a signal to the state to increase the tax on rubber in the coming budget.
“Rubber recorded sustained, sometimes steep, increases in its price throughout,” the Committee says iits report. “At the same time, the sales tax revenue realised from rubber declined drastically and continuously. Accelerated increase in the value of output is not reflected in the tax collected,” it adds.
The value of rubber output shot up to Rs 14650 crore in 2010-11 from Rs 8566.01 crore in 2009-10, a 71 per cent increase. The sales tax/VAT collected in 2010-11 was 297.81 crore as against Rs 196 crore in 2009-10. But as a percentage of the value of output, the tax collection had dropped to 2.03 per cent in 2010-11 from 2.29 per cent in 2009-10. While the value of rubber output soared, the tax collection crawled as a southward sloping line along the base.
Source: deccanchronicle.com
