Govt clarifi es stand on gold excise duty

KOLKOTA: Responding to requests from the All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation (AIGJTF), the Centre has fi nally clarifi ed its stand on the application of Excise Duty on branded precious metal jewellery providing a huge relief to the industry. Stating this AIGJTF Chairman Bachhraj Bamalwa thanked Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for responding to the long standing demand from the Rs 300,000 crore industries to help sustain its over 25 per cent annual growth. Elaborating the benefi ts of the recent government clarifi cation through a gazette notifi cation dated March 05, 2012, Mr Bamalwa said earlier in absence of any clarity in the imposition of excise duty on branded gold and diamond jewellery, the retail sellers used to face huge harassment from government offi cials on fl imsy ground during every business transaction. “ But now the(excise) duty would only be applicable to precious jewellery where brand or trade names are affi xed or embossed on the product in a stylised manner, and not on articles that are packed in a jewellery box or pouch bearing a trade or brand name,” Bamalwa explained. This would enable the vast majority players of the industry to increase their sales without compromising with the product quality, he stated further. Referring to some other demands of the industry to the Union Finance minister to consider before this year’s Union Budget proposals, the AIGJTF chief said these included total abolition of ETF investment in gold, reduction in volume of import of gold by the NRIs, extending the limit of compulsory provision of PAN card for a single transaction from Rs fi ve Lakh to Rs 25 Lakh, revision of import duty on gold and silver and the fi xation of Presumtive tax between 1.5 per cento to two per cent on total turnover. “We hope that the government would consider our demands sympathetically for various reasons,” Bamalwa said and claimed that if implemented these steps would not only go a long way towards controlling fraudulent transactions of gold and other precious metals in the country, but also help generate additional revenue worth more than 14 billion USD every year to the government exchequer. Among others Pankaj Parekh, Chairman of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council was present.