Few new taxes in Bengal budget,Mamata gives it 100 out of 10

Rather than going the Dinesh Trivedi way he was forced to quit as Union Railway Minister following Mamatas objections to his fare hike Mitra said would go in for simplification of sales tax returns and hoped this would help him mobilise up to Rs 31,222 crore in taxes,instead of the estimated Rs 24,934 crore for 2011-12. It is almost Rs 2,800 crore down from what Mitra had projected in his budget estimates for 2011-12 last year.

Still,even the Rs 31,222 crore looks ambitious considering that almost in all the sectors,collections have fallen far short of the targets last year.

With panchayat polls round the corner,the stress was on Muslims and other backward classes and also the agricultural sector. The state proposed welfare schemes and an increase in planned outlay for minority affairs and madrasa education to Rs 570 crore from Rs 330 crore last year.

To ensure food security,budgetary allocation for the food department has been increased by 106 per cent.

The Bengal budget also proposes withdrawal of value added tax on commodities such as LPG and reducing tax on commodities like paneer,wooden goods as wished by Mamata. The tax on cars costing car above Rs 10 lakh goes up,as does that on TV sets costing more than Rs 25,000,mobile phones sold for over Rs 20,000 and air conditioners over 1 ton capacity.

The finance minister proposed a new bill for levy of tax on entry of goods into local areas but did not elaborate the mechanism for collection of the tax. It might have a ripple effects on goods brought into the state.