The Chief Minister (Finance Minister) presented Rajasthan State budget in the State Assembly on 8-3-2016. The highlights of Rajasthan State Budget – 2016-17 are summarised as under :

VAT

1. The rate of tax on following goods has been increased/levied :

i. Aerated Water : from 15% to 20%

ii. Semi-stitched garments : 5.5%

iii. Gwar gum & Gwar : 5.5%gum powder & Gwar refined Dal

iv. Cigarettes : 15% additional on existing tax

v. Country Liquor : 5%

2. REDUCTION IN RATE OF TAX (VAT)

The rate of tax (VAT) has been reduced from 14.5% to 5.5% on the following items :

Sr. No.	Name of Commodity
1	Measuring Tape & Vernier Calipers
2	Dental implants
3	Pickle excluding branded pickle
4	All types of plastic goods including plastic grills and unbranded plastic moulded furniture
5	All types of carpets
6	L.T. Electric Switchgear items, that is to say, fuse switch unit and main switch, change-over switch, reverse forward switch, kitkat fuse, ampere metre, volt meter, LT circuit breaker, distribution board and box, control panel, power supply indicator, single phase preventer, auto switch, connector and motor starter
7	SD card, memory card, pen drive.
8	Health fitness and gymnastic equipments, fat losing belts, body vibrating items, morning walker, acupressure machines, thermal massager.

• The rate of tax (VAT) on all kinds of yarn and waste thereof other than cotton & silk yarn in hank has been reduced from 5.5% to 2%.

• The rate of VAT on heavy loading vehicles having gross weight more than 12,000 kgs. has been reduced from 15% to 13%.

3. Following items have been exempted from VAT:

Sr. No.	Name of Commodity
1	Solar Torch, Biomass Stove
2	Kerosene lamp/ Hurricane lantern, Kerosene wick stove, Kerosene pressure stove
3	Lai, Pattu, Ghunghru, Saw dust.
4	Sugarcane, Sattu, Khakhra, Unbranded toast or rusk
5	Articles of Marble up to ` 1,000/- per item
6	Sewing needle, Safety Matches
7	Ganga Jal, Ganga Arghya packed in sealed containers, Camphor (diwj)
8	Earthern Roofing Tiles (Kelu)
9	Animal Shoe and its Nails
10	Rubber Playball & Balloons
11	Hand Pumps, Parts and fittings

4. For facilitating the dealers, it has been proposed to authorize 35 banks for e-payment of tax.

5. Earlier the appeals under Entry Tax, Luxury Tax and Entertainment Tax were being filed manually. Now it has been proposed to file the appeals under Entry Tax, Luxury Tax and Entertainment Tax on-line.

6. Earlier on-line refunds under RVAT & CST Act were allowed. Now it is proposed that the same facility should be provided under the Entry Tax, Luxury Tax and Entertainment Tax Acts.

7. The time limit for disposal of applications for change of principal place of business from one authority to another was 60 days. It is proposed to reduce the time from 60 days to 30 days in such cases.

8. Earlier the time limit for deemed acceptance of rectification application filed U/s. 33 of the RVAT Act, was 1 years. It is proposed to reduced the time limit from 1 year to 6 months.

9. Earlier, the business audit U/s. 27 of RVAT Act was conducted at the business place of the dealer. Now the provision is being made to give the option to the dealer to choose the place for audit as per his convenience.

10. The time limit for finalisation of the assessment for the A.Y. 2013-14 was 31-3-2016. It has been extended up to 31-7-2016.

11. Earlier the developers & builders were required to deposit lump sum tax for all the projects. Now it is proposed that the developers & builders can deposit the lump sum tax project wise and there is no need to deduct the TDS from the registered sub-contractors.

12. Presently, the time limit for cancellation of on-line generated declaration forms, due to any mistake, is 6 months. It is proposed to extend the time limit for a further period of 6 months on permission of the Dy. Commissioner.

13. It has been proposed to the include generating sets under the definition of capital goods.

14. E-commerce (online purchase from out of Rajasthan) – Earlier there was no tax on e-commerce business. It is now proposed to levy tax @ 5.5% on e-commerce business.

ELECTRICITY DUTY

Earlier on Captive Power Generation, Urban Cess and Water Conservation Cess was levied. Now it is proposed to exempt the Urban Cess and Water Conservation Cess with retrospective effect on captive power generation.

AMNESTY SCHEME

• The Amnesty Scheme under RVAT/RST/CST Act, announced by the Government, is applicable up to 15-3-2016. Now it has been proposed to extend the date for availing the benefit under the Amnesty Scheme up to 31-5-2016 under the RVAT/RST/CST Act.

• The Amnesty Scheme under Entry Tax Act has been announced and the time limit for availing the benefits under such Scheme is 31-5-2016. The Scheme will be applicable only to those dealers whose Entry Tax demand as on 31-12-2015 is less than ` 20 crores.

WORKS CONTRACT TAX

The rate of TDS under Works Contract Tax has been reduced in case of registered dealer from 6% to 3%.

ENTRY TAX ACT

• Entry Tax @ 2% on all kinds of yarn, other than cotton & silk yarn in hank has been levied. However, on movement of yarn within State from one local area to another local area for job work or manufacturing, Entry Tax will not be charged.

• Entry Tax @ 5% has been levied on Cash Deposit machines, Automatic Ticket Vending machines.

• Following goods have been deleted from the list of notified goods for levy of Entry Tax i.e. exempted from Entry Tax:

Sr. No.	Name of Commodity
1	All kinds of telephone and parts thereof
2	Insulators
3	Photocopiers
4	Stay wire
5	Television sets, washing machine, microwave oven
6	Tin containers
7	Aerated water
8	Mineral water and water sold in sealed containers

STAMP DUTY

There are various changes in the levy of Stamp Duty as per amendment dated 8-3-2016.