Tax will chase you at border

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">BANGALORE: It''s around 3.30 am. The bus grinds to a halt at a checkpost along the Karnataka border and the lights come on. Suddenly there is commotion at the door. Some officials are checking bags and belongings. You are still half-asleep when one of them asks you to open the box underneath your seat. His curiosity is tickled by the mixie-cum-grinder gifted by your aunt that''s peeping out of the box.You are asked for the sales receipt for the item. You don''t have one, your aunt didn''t deem it courteous to supplement her gift with one.<br /><br />Leave the mixie behind, the official orders you, adding you may collect if within seven days on furnishing a receipt and paying up the 3.8 per cent of the value of the item.<br /><br />This is what could happen to you in fortress Karnataka.<br /><br />"After October 1 order, we may have to stop even cars with families," says a commercial tax officer. They are now alert to catching the ''flying evaders''. "If only we had sophisticated equipment that the Customs have, we could pass every bag through the scanners," he adds. The stakes are very high. And the agony of the traveller is a small price to pay.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">When a <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Sunday</span> <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Times</span> team visited a checkpost on Saturday, it was around 5 pm and there was very little car traffic. The few cars that crossed into the state weren''t stopped. But just as a shuttle bus roared past, the officer shouted, "Don''t allow these local buses, that is where we need to look more closely." The checkpost has goods retained for physical verification. "Come around 3 am, and you will see a lot of vehicles including cars and buses that are being checked. We don''t allow anyone without checking," says an officer.<br /><br />So, could we do without this harassment? Can we carry the goods home and pay the taxes later? After all, the Customs allows Rs 12,000 worth of goods per individual to be brought in, free of levies. Is the Deputy CM listening? Not really. Speaking to reporters in Mysore on Saturday, he ruled out revisiting the special entry tax.<br /><br />Meanwhile, traders rue that now they will have to pay up the differential in taxes on goods sourced from outside if they don''t sell it within one month. That''s an additional burden over investing in the inventory, says a trader. CTD officials are waiting for new collection targets to be announced by the central office on special entry tax. Their present target without the special entry tax is Rs 7 lakh per officer per month.<br /><br />Didn''t somebody say the only things certain in life are death and taxes?</div> </div>