APAO wants govt to bring aviation turbine fuel under GST Act

New Delhi: Private airport operators in thecountry today said the government should bring aviationturbine fuel under the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Act andincrease the duty-free allowances for incoming internationalpassengers in this budget.
The Association of Private Airport Operators (APAO) --comprising the airport operators of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore,Hyderabad and Kochi -- put forth their list of suggestions tothe Finance Ministry for the Union Budget.
APAO wants aviation fuel to be brought under the GST,which is intended to bring taxation of goods and servicesacross various states under a unified tax structure.
"Currently, the difference in tax structure andespecially the tax rates, results in heavy cost for the taxpayers. In case of ATF, the tax rates substantially vary fromstate to state and Indian aviation industry, being very price-sensitive, is adversely affected due to vast difference inATF taxation," the APAO members said in their proposal.
Bringing it under GST Act would ensure that taxation onATF across the nation would be uniform, they said.
Also, they want ATF to be classified as ''declaredgoods'' under the Central Sales Tax Act, which they say wouldhelp emergence of Indian airports as hubs and stabilise ATFprices across the country.
The airport operators want the government to enhancethe duty-free allowance for incoming international passengersfrom Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 and also encourage them to buyfrom Indian duty-free shops.
02/02/11 One India

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Categories: Airports Feb 2011