Is it legal for NPGs to impose tax? CNCCI asks government

DIMAPUR: The Confederation of Nagaland Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CNCCI) has asked the state government to clarify whether taxes imposed by various Naga political groups (NPGs) on the people is legal.

If imposition of tax by various factions is illegal, the government has to stop it, but if it is legal, both the central and state governments should stop taxing the business community, it said.

Addressing a press conference on Friday after a special executive meeting at Tourist Lodge in Dimapur, CNCCI chairman Kheghuka Muru stated that the number factions has been growing over the years.

There are 18 factions in Nagaland at present and almost all the groups are collecting tax in various forms. This, he said, has become unbearable for the business community as they are yet to fully recover from the COVID-induced lockdown, and that they have come to a point where they will have to shut down their business if the trend continues.

‘After the meeting, we resolved that it has to be streamlined if the market has to exist,’ he said, adding that the government should make its stand clear on taxation.

“The government has to immediately come up with a response to them in the public medium, and failing which the business community will find means to survive, so the government has to seriously take on this issue,” said CNCCI chairman.

He added that each district in the state will stand together and if any business person is harassed or kidnapped, and the whole business community will respond to such atrocities collectively.

Muru also said that multiple taxations have to end.

He further said that the business community is giving a hard time due to different policies announces by different authorities.

The state government allows a particular business but another faction issues a ban on the same, causing a big hassle to the business community, he pointed out.

In this regard, the CNCCI asked the state government to come up with a certain system and make the person in-charge of policy making public. ‘If they say they are the authority, they should look into the matter so that no other orders are issued by another authority,’ it added.

During the meeting, the business community also deliberated on random checking of business establishment, which has become a big harassment to the business community. If a person sells an expired good, action can be taken as per the law, but to conduct checking, every district and town should set up a committee headed by a food safety officer with a member from the district chamber, representative from the district chamber, and police, and only such panel should be given the authority to check the stores, it added.