West Bengal is believed to be the 6th largest economy in India and recorded a Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of US$ 163.87 billion in 2017-18. Not many know, but West Bengal is the second largest tea-producing state in India and is home to the universally acclaimed Darjeeling tea variety. It has a very well organized administrative set up. It is headed by the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes. The Directorate of Commercial Taxes, under the Department of Finance, collects taxes such as the Sales Tax, Profession Tax and Coal Cess. The Vision of the Directorate of Commercial Taxes, West Bengal is to provide an efficient and transparent mechanism for collection of taxes and use e-governance in a major way to facilitate trade, commerce and easy compliance.
The West Bengal VAT Act 2003 has laid down the framework for regulations across the state. Therefore, no tax will be payable on the following goods under schedule A. Also, some goods are zero rated under schedule AA, while many goods are taxable at 5% under schedule C.
Taxes are not payable for the following goods under Schedule A
Silk yarns
Agricultural implements
Bangles
Cotton yarns
Books and journals that include braille, charts and maps
Aids used by the handicapped
Coconut fibre
Betel leaves
The following list of goods under Schedule AA are zero rated
By a dealer to a dealer in a Special Economic Zone
Dealers in Special Economic Zone
Between dealers of Export Oriented Units
The following list of goods are taxable under Schedule B at 1%
Rhodium
Gold
Precious metals
Silver
The following list of items under Schedule C are taxable at 5%
Beedi leaves
Copyrights, patents
Betal nut
All types of toys except electronic
Agricultural implements
All types of yarn
Aluminum in all forms
The following items (ie, IT products) at 5%
Electrical capacitors
Electronic calculators
Optical fibre
Microphones
Answering machines
The following industrial inputs at 5%
Zinc ores
Vegetable wax
Aluminum ores
Liquid glucose
Copper ores
Note: Goods that are not specified in Schedule A, B and C are taxable at 14.5%. Items like tobacco, pan masala, television, mobile phone are taxable at a rate not above 35% of turnover under Schedule D.
The West Bengal VAT (Commercial tax) registration forms can be filled online. You can download the registration form from the official website which is to be duly filled-in before submission. Details such as the address, PAN card number has to be provided at the time of submission of the important documents such as trade licenses, legal occupancy of business/factory and partnership deed among many others.
Following are West Bengal VAT forms:
Form - 1: Application for registration
Form - 2: Information to be submitted by a dealer
Form - 1CR: Application for composition registration
Form - 14, Form - 14D and Form-15: VAT Return Form - 14, 14D & 15
Note: These forms can be downloaded from the official website of West Bengal Commercial Tax ie: wbcomtax.gov.in/ How to file West Bengal VAT Return e-filing and payment?
You can file VAT return by logging into the official website of Directorate of Official Taxes, Government of West Bengal and download forms such as 14, 14D, 15 and 15R. Once the files are uploaded, you can get the acknowledgement slip and print the same. Besides, there are various user manuals to make this process easier.
How to get user id and password after getting new registration?
The Dealer himself has to create user-id and password through the link given in the website as Generate of User-id, providing registration no, PAN no and the mail-id recorded in database.
Which VAT taxation Act is covered by West Bengal state?
The West Bengal VAT Act 2003 has laid down its regulations across the state.
What is the use of form 1?
Form 1 is used as an application for registration
What types of goods are taxable at 1%
