Extending relief to small traders in the budget presented on Wednesday, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit announced proposal to raise the threshold limit for registration under VAT from Rs 10 lakh to 20 lakh.

While announcing the sop, Sheila claimed that Delhi is the first state in the country to extend such relief to small traders.

Stating that the government would like to encourage voluntary tax compliance and raids and inspections would be exception, Dikshit announced that penalties up to 80 percent of admitted tax would be automatically mitigated in case of voluntary deposition of tax dues.

This would be applicable even in the cases where inspections have been carried out, she said.

She also announced that under a new composition scheme, which would come into effect from coming April, dealers would be allowed to pay a tax based on their overall turnover. 
PTI