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COIMBATORE, Jan. 16

THE plantation sector has pleaded for a set of favourable Government policies that would rescue it from the present crisis and encourage sustained growth and development of the sector.

Submitting the pre-Budget memorandum on behalf of the industry, Mr I.J.J. Rebello, President of the United Planters' Association of Southern India (UPASI), the apex body of southern planters, has appealed to the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, for incorporation of a set of proposals in the 2002-03 Union Budget.

These include abolition of the excise duty on tea for South India and amendment to section 33AB (inserted in the Finance Act 1985) that permits tea companies to get relief on the basis of expenditure incurred for approved activities. UPASI has urged the Ministry to amend the section such that the withdrawals for spending on specified purpose be allowed without insistence on deposit. It has also sought extension of the relief to rubber and coffee; amendment to Rule 7A of the IT Rules, to encompass all value-added natural rubber products obtained from rubber plants; compulsory tax audit for non corporate entities with a turnover of above Rs one crore instead of the current limit of Rs 40 lakhs and the extension of due date for filing of return to November 30 (for corporate assessees.

In the light of the current recessionary trend, UPASI has sought the benefit under section 80 HHC (deduction in respect of profit retained from export business) be made available for 100 per cent of the profits for the present as was the case earlier.

It has also pleaded to defer the payment of the first instalment of advance tax and exemption from payment of interest on the shortfall; exemption from the purview of tax on distributed profits under Section 115(O); and expenses on new planting of tea, to the extent not capitalised and not claimed as a deduction, be allowed the benefit of depreciation or treated as a deferred revenue expenditure.

Among other demands are concession for setting up new tea factories; reduction in the corporate tax rate to 30 per cent and abolition of surcharge; tariff protection to plantation commodities by increasing the basic import duty to the bound rate levels; nil import duty on machineries required by the plantation industry; and minimum or zero customs duty on copper scrap and excise duty on copper sulphate.

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