The state government has fixed the standard operating procedure (SOP) for cooperative sugar mills to avail waiver on income tax levied on the additional price paid to farmers to buy sugar cane.
The income tax department has been considering the additional price paid by the sugar millers, in addition to the earlier statutory minimum price (SMP) or the recently introduced fair and remunerative price (FRP) as the profit made by sugar millers.
The department had issued notices to the millers to pay the IT dues, which according to the government amounts to around Rs. 10,000 crore. In the Union Budget, the IT rules were amended to waive the dues, relieving the sugar millers from across the country, mainly from Maharashtra to a large extent.
According to Sugarcane (Control) Order 1966, it is mandatory for the sugar millers to pay the FRP. It is the minimum price the millers have to pay to the sugar cane suppliers. The mills are allowed to pay more than the FRP amount. In the times of shortage of sugar cane and preceding year largely remaining profitable, the millers used to compete to pay more to the sugar cane farmers.
As per the order issued by the state government, the millers now have to carry out the auditing of the amount it paid to the sugar cane farmers since the demand notices were issued to them.
“The office of sugar commissioner will have to cross check the data submitted by the millers and then approve the income tax waiver,” stated the state government order.
Read more at: The Times of India
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