Jammu and Kashmir government has said VAT exemption on domestic cooking gas will continue for giving respite to the people of the state.

The exemption will continue even though the state exchequer had to bear a burden of Rs. 17 crore on this account during first seven months of the current financial year, minister for finance and Ladakh affairs, Abdul Rahim Rather said here yesterday.

He was speaking at the quarterly review meeting of the Commercial Tax department, Kashmir division.

The exemption from Value Added Tax on cooking gas in the state is on since April this year.

Meanwhile, the minister asked the Commercial Tax department to launch a vigorous campaign against tax defaulters and their abettors irrespective of their status and position.

Asking the people to clear their taxes, Rather said there are stringent laws to deal with defaulters with iron hand.

He said they are being provided one more opportunity to clear their arrears as early as possible before any action is initiated against them.

Rather also called for greater coordination among Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Accounts & Treasuries and Commercial Taxes departments to streamline tax realisation system.

He said action would be taken for any lapses and negligence in the tax collection process on the part of officers.

He asked the department to make tax collection system more people friendly so that tax payers do not feel any kind of inconvenience.

The meeting was informed that an amount of Rs 739.23 crore commercial tax has been realised during the first two quarters of the current fiscal against Rs 681.88 crore during the corresponding period of last financial year.

The department has realised Rs 20.29 crore as penalty from the defaulters upto October this fiscal, whereas more than 32,000 new registrations were granted to the traders during the same period.

About 1200 inspections of various establishments were also carried out upto October 2012 wherein a sum of Rs 26.84 crore was realised from the defaulters as penalty.