While addressing the conference Pawan Chamling, Chief Minister of Sikkim said that the steps taken by the Sikkim government to issue Identity Card for the Sikkim Subjects and their descendents to maintain their distinct identity as well as to others residing in the State is the step taken on internal security system.

From Sikkim Express

Nagarik Sangharsha Samiti writes to CS; demands equal treatment in tax exemption

GANGTOK, September 1: The Nagarik Sangharsha Samiti has written to the Chief Secretary demanding equal treatment to persons (baring foreigners) residing in Sikkim before April 26, 1975 in the matter of tax exemption and in socio-economic and political arena in Sikkim.

A letter signed by Prem Goyal, Chief Coordinator of the Samiti has also urged the six-member Committee on Tax Exemption to give them the opportunity to present their views to the Committee before making recommendations to the Government of Sikkim for taking up the issue with the Government of India.

“You may kindly recall that we have, right from 1977 onwards, been working for the protection of the rights and interests of all citizens residing in Sikkim. We submitted a memorandum dated June 25, 1996 to the Chief Minister of Sikkim, Pawan Chamling, and thereafter several reminders and fresh memorandum have been submitted periodical1y, urging the State Government to accord equal treatment to all persons residing in Sikkim before April 26, 1975,” the letter reads.

The Samiti has in the past submitted several memorandums to the Governor of Sikkim, Chief Minister, Union Finance Minister and also to the Central Board of Direct Taxes from time to time reiterating their ‘genuine’ demand for equal treatment.

INCOME TAX EXEMPTION TO LEFT OUTS IN SIKKIM

SIKKIM: CS heads committee to study Income Tax exemption to ‘Left Outs’
Posted by barunroy on July 22, 2009

FROM SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK: The State government has constituted a six member committee headed by chief secretary ND Chingapa to consider exemption the left out individuals of Sikkim from the purview of Central Income Tax.

The other members of the committee are additional chief secretary TT Dorji, law secretary RK Purkhayastha, Chief Minister’s principle secretary RK Basnet and transport secretary KN Bhutia.

HB Rai, additional commissioner, commercial taxes division is the member secretary of the committee.

The high level committee has been tasked to examine all matters relating to grant of exemption of Central Income Tax (Direct Tax Law) to the ‘left out’ individuals in Sikkim and make recommendation to the State government for taking up the issue with the Centre. The committee has also been directed to submit its report at the earliest.

It may be added that the ‘left outs’ as referred by the State government implies those persons living in Sikkim for generations and had not been granted exemption from paying income taxes as provided to people with Sikkim Subject Certificates.

The Union government had last year exempted Sikkim Subject holders from paying Direct Income Tax by passing an amendment in the Finance Bill of 2008.

People of Sikkimese origin having Sikkim Subject Certificates have been exempted from Direct Taxes as per the 26AAA clause paving way for the Act to be enforced in the state.

However, the old business community who has been living in the State for generations but without Sikkim Subject certificates have expressed their objections for being left out of the Act.
The old business community had also expressed their objections for being bracketed into ‘Non Sikkimese’ category by the Union government in the Finance Act.

The old business community living here for generations had demanded to be defined as ‘Left out Sikkimese’ and not as ‘Non Sikkimese’.


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PLAINSMAN ? LEFT OUT SIKKIMESE ?

Red flag over ‘Plainsmen Business Community’ nomenclature
Does the term `businessman’ refer to all persons?-NSS

SE Report
GANGTOK, November 11: Expressing an outraged objection, Nagarik Sangharsha Samiti (NSS) today strongly censured the State government for repeatedly trying to nomenclature a section of the Sikkimese residents as ‘Plainsmen Business Community’.

“The use of the terminology ‘Plainsmen Business Community” is a misnomer and inappropriate in as much as persons deprived of equal rights at par with the former Sikkim Subject Holders are from different places and different avocations and professions”, said Prem Goyal, NSS chief coordinator in a press statement.

“To brand the heterogeneous group into ‘Plainsmen’ or ‘Business Community’ is to continue the perpetuation of injustice against each individual who, under the banner of Nagrik Sangharsha Samiti, has fought relentlessly for the past 33 years for being treated at par with the erstwhile Sikkim Subject Holders who became citizens of India on and from April 26,1975 only”.

NSS said that the terminology ‘businessmen’ can be safely used to describe all persons doing any and every kind of business for their livelihood irrespective of whether such persons are legally entitled to enjoy the socio-economic and political rights in Sikkim.

“Does the term `businessman’ refer to all persons? The Samiti would appreciate if the terms like ‘businessmen’ and ‘plainsmen’ are altogether avoided. This will go a long way in strengthening communal harmony, peace and brotherhood in a small State like Sikkim where we have been living like one family”, Mr. Goyal said.

The outcry of NSS is based on a news item carried by a local English daily which reported that the State government is examining ‘plainsmen business community for facilities at par with Sikkim subjects’.

NSS said that this exercise clearly demonstrates the fact that the ‘State Government is trying hard to extricate itself from the illegal and discriminatory policies being pursued for over three decades affecting a sizeable number of persons resident
in Sikkim until April 26, 1975-the historic day when Sikkim became a part of India’.

The body also accused the government of desperately trying to cover up its ‘illegal and discriminatory policies and practices’ by restoring to ‘misinformation and disinformation campaign’.

NSS claimed that it has ‘repeatedly made it clear that the State Government must concede its demand for equal treatment in socio-economic and political arena on the basis of all the applicable laws and rules in force in the State of Sikkim and that denial of equal treatment are violative of the Constitution and the rule of law’. It asserted that the sizeable number of residents of the pre-merger date, that is, April 26, 1975 is a group of bonafide Indian nationals from all communities and from different places in India and ‘not just those who run a business or hail from the plains’.

NSS also refuted the reported claims of the State government directing the ‘business community’ to prepare a charter of ‘grievances and demands for examination’.

“No communication has been received from the State Government on the issue and the question of submitting any list of grievances and demands does not arise at all. The demands and grievances of NSS have been repeatedly made known to the State and the Central Government right from 1977 and the one point formula is equal treatment to all those residents in Sikkim till April 26, 1975”, NSS said.

NSS also said that it is ‘ironic that Indian nationals already resident in Sikkim till April 26, 1975 were conveniently left out and are being treated as ‘second class citizens’ when 73,431 persons granted Indian citizenship who were neither Sikkim subject holders or Indian citizens taking April 26, 1975 as the cut off year.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Source:Sikkim Express)

SCC SUBMITS MEMORANDUM TO GOVERNOR,CM

SIKKIM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
M.G.MARG, GANGTOK,SIKKIM

DT 24 September 2008

PRESS RELEASE


A delegation of Sikkim Chamber of Commerce submitted a memorandum addressed to His Excellency, The Governor of Sikkim in the office of Rajbhawan, Gangtok this afternoon.

The memorandum drew the attention of His Excellency in respect of difficulties in compliance of Direct Tax laws in Sikkim.

“ May we take the liberty of reiterating here that review of the matter is of utmost importance in view of need to include prospective taxpayers of Sikkim in the National mainstream and this task can only be accomplished by a progressive, systematic and logical approach that may be acceptable to the first timer prospective assesses.”

The memorandum further says:

“It is once again most fervently submitted that in the interest of natural justice, the Act be made applicable from accounting year 2009-2010, uniformly on “non-Sikkimese” individuals and “other persons” as defined in Indian Income tax Act “

Attention of His Excellency has been drawn in respect to the pending demand to exempt from Indian Income Tax the 400 families of old settlers residing in Sikkim before the merger date i.e., 26th April 1975 who have been inadvertently left out.

The Old Settlers conveyed to the Government of India through His Excellency, The Governor of Sikkim its heartfelt grief for having been referred as “NON SIKKIMESE INDIVIDUALS” and the OLD SETTLERS would prefer to be denoted as “LEFT OUT SIKKIMESE” and their reference as “NON-SIKKIMESE INDIVIDUALS” may please be discontinued , as they have an inseparable bond and sense of belonging with the soil of Sikkim, with highest regard for its Monarchs who always held them in high esteem and most of us know of no other home.

The delegation also submitted similar memorandum to the office of Hon’ble Chief Minister of Sikkim and to Income tax Office.


( Suresh Agarwal)
General Secretary
Sikkim Chamber of Commerce
Gangtok

PHASE II PROTEST ON INDIAN INCOME TAX STARTS IN SIKKIM

Lineage record for cut off year safeguard

Staff Reporter
(SIKKIM EXPRESS)

GANGTOK, September 22: Spiking up their level of protests, every member of the 35000 odd business community living in Sikkim will wear black bands and stick protest posters inside their business premises on September 24 and 25 to protest against the ‘discrimination’ meted out to the community by the Union government while implementing Income Tax Act 1961 in this Himalayan state.

Every business community member in Sikkim will wear black bands and display protest posters in their premises on September 24 and 25 to highlight our two main demands, said Sikkim Chamber of Commerce (SCC) president SK Sarda today in an emergency meeting of the body.

A large gathering of business community members from all the four districts had gathered at a local hotel here to accord their consent to the second phase of their protests in the Income Tax issue.

Volunteers have been selected by the body to oversee the preparations for the Gandhian protest in the State. Surveillance teams will also operating to see whether the protests are being followed by the business community members spread all over the State.

“Please don’t feel shy while wearing black bands. The band must be worn by the members continuously for two days at all places. The protest posters must be placed inside the premises”, Mr. Sarda told the gathering.

The SCC president also sported a black band today to signal the second phase of the protest by the business community here for their demands.

The first demand of the business community is – exemption of Income Tax for the 400 families of old business community and old settlers living in Sikkim before April 26, 1975, the date the erstwhile kingdom merged with India.

The second demand is for implementation of Direct Tax Laws to other non-exempted people of Sikkim on a ‘prospective date’ and not on April 1, 2007 as directed by the Union Finance Ministry.

The Union Finance Minister had said on the floor of the House that the Income Tax Act 1961 will apply on prospectively, said Mr. Sarda.

The SCC president also claimed that business community of Sikkim has been bracketed into ‘Non Sikkimese’ category by the Union government in the Finance Act. “This soil is our Sikkim. We have born here and will die here”, he said.

The old business community living here for generations should not be defined as ‘Non Sikkimese’ but as ‘Left out Sikkimese’, Mr. Sarda. The ‘Non Sikkimese’ description will not be accepted at any costs, he said.

During the second protest phase, the business community will also be submitting a reminder memorandum the Governor, Chief Minister and all concerned in the Union government urging them to redress the issue to its logical conclusion.

The business community had already submitted a memorandum to the Union Finance Minister on August 27 through the Sikkim Income Tax Office during the first phase of its Gandhian protest against the discriminations meted out to them.

Even after passage of a reasonable time, nothing conclusive has emerged from the Centre and delay on this will simply add difficulties both for the prospective tax payers and the administrator, said Mr. Sarda.

It may be recalled here that earlier this year, the Centre had exempted Sikkim subject holders from paying Direct Income Tax by passing an amendment in the Finance Bill of 2008.

People of Sikkimese origin having Sikkim subjects have been exempted from Direct Taxes as per the 26AAA clause paving way for the Act to be enforced in the state.
The era of Direct Taxes began in Sikkim with the Central Income Tax office starting its operations from August 6.

Old business community numbering to 400 families and other people working in the state represents a huge chunk of those people who do not have Sikkimese subjects and thus have to cough up taxes now as per Income Tax Act 1961.

This has triggered strong resentment among the local business community who do not have the Sikkim subjects or Certificate of Identifications though they have been living in the state for generations.

“Is this (discrimination) is our reward or punishment though we are living here since generations. It is very unfortunate. We (old business community) are also sons of this soil and have some rights”, said Suresh Agarwal, SCC general secretary to the gathering.

“We have become sacrificial lambs and it is a blot to the democracy”, he added.
On the need for a cut off year to segregate old business community from the rest, the SCC general secretary proposed for a safeguard exercise to chronicle a record
base of those business community members living in Sikkim since generations.

Stressing that this particular exercise is highly sensitive, Mr. Agarwal said that it is very important the members to know their history in Sikkim. An internal preparatory survey will be done to prepare our records and we will be ready to submit the records whenever the declaration process for a cut off year begins, he said.

The proposal was unanimously passed by the gathering.

PHASE II OF INCOME TAX PROTEST LAUNCHED IN SIKKIM

SIKKIM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
M.G.MARG, GANGTOK,SIKKIM

Dated:22nd SEPT.08

PRESS RELEASE



ANNOUNCING PHASE II OF PROTEST ON INCOME TAX ISSUE


Under the aegis of Sikkim Chamber of Commerce a packed gathering of about 300 delegates of business enterprises and old settlers assembled at Gangtok on 22 Sept 2008 and approved going in for Phase II of the Protest on Central Income Tax Issue.

It is important to recall here that on 27th August 2008, more than 800 delegates of business enterprises, small and big and old settlers from all over Sikkim had assembled at the Newly Opened Income Tax Office at Gangtok and submitted a copy of memorandum addressed to Hon’ble Finance Minister Shri P Chidambaram seeking implementation of Income Tax Act from a future date and consideration of exemption from income tax for old settlers residing in Sikkim prior to date of merger i.e., 26th April 1975 .

The meeting noted with deep concern that even after passage of a reasonable time period from date of submission to the Ministry of Finance, nothing conclusive has emerged from Government of India and delay on this account would simply add difficulties both for the prospective tax payers and the administrator.

SCC in its memorandum had drawn attention of the Hon’ble Finance Minister to the difficulties that would be faced in compliance of Direct taxes in the State of Sikkim, if made applicable retrospectively from 1.4.2007.

The Chamber drew the attention of the Hon’ble Finance Minister to his speech made in Lok Sabha on 29th April 2008 wherein he had promised that:

“This( Income Tax Act 1961) will apply only prospectively”

The Sikkim Income Tax Manual 1948 ceased to operate only on 16th June 2008 and also in light of assurance of the Finance Minister in the Parliament for prospective implementation, the order for assessing the non- Sikkimese individuals from the accounting year 2007-08 is not just and has created much anguish and confusion leading to a state of helplessness to co-operate in such unpractical situation

Quoting the White Paper on Implementation of Direct Taxes in Sikkim, the SCC had submitted that in the course of discussions with Government of India on the implementation of direct tax laws in Sikkim, the State Government had rightfully requested as under:

“ The State Government would however like to reiterate its request that sufficient time should be given, before the direct tax laws are implemented, to create an awareness in the State on implementation of the direct tax laws and to educate and mentally prepare the people of the State of the new system of taxation and at the same time allow the State Government to sort out the transitional issues.”

It is regretful that quite inadvertently such an important issue raised and request made thereupon by Government of Sikkim, in larger public interest, was ignored and Instruction No 8/2008 dt 29th July 2008 was issued by CBDT unilaterally.

The general body drawn from all over Sikkim, therefore, resolved to continue with the Gandhian way of movement and unanimously agreed to launch the Second Phase of Protest on 24th and 25th September 2008 by wearing black band on arms and displaying Protest Posters in their premises, demanding from Government of India:

1. Exemption from Income Tax- also for old settlers, government officers and old businessmen of Sikkim.

2. Implementation of direct tax laws on other categories from accounting year 2009-2010.

In the reminder addressed to the Finance Minister the Chamber has held that review of the matter is of utmost importance in view of need to include prospective taxpayers of Sikkim in the National mainstream and this task can only be accomplished by a progressive, systematic and logical approach that may be acceptable to the first timer prospective assesses.

The Chamber has sought to further remind the Hon’ble Finance Minister that the issue of exemption from Indian Income Tax to 400 families of old settlers residing in Sikkim before the merger date i.e., 26th April 1975 who have been inadvertently left out is pending settlement and is under active consideration of both the Union and the State Governments.

The general body also decided to submit memorandums to His Excellency the Governor of Sikkim as well as to Hon’ble Chief Minister and all concerned in Union Government urging them to redress the issue to its logical conclusion.

The meeting thanked Hon’ble Chief Minister Dr Pawan Chamling and Government of Sikkim for their positive approach in the matter which shall go a long way to solve the issue.

( Suresh Agarwal)
General Secretary
Sikkim Chamber of Commerce