IT department wants diamantaires to pay tax in Surat

Income tax department’s principal commissioner RK Gupta is of the opinion that if Surat diamantaires pay their taxes in the city instead of Mumbai that would help the industry as well as the people. He was addressing a seminar on 'widening of tax base and tax payers' services' in city. It may be recalled that Surat is world’s largest diamond cutting and polishing centre with over Rs 90,000 crore worth of annual production of polished diamonds. Most of the diamantaires in Mumbai have their manufacturing units in the city.

However, these diamond companies of Surat prefer to pay their taxes in Mumbai as their companies have registered offices in Mumbai. Industry sources said the diamond companies of Surat have been paying huge amount in income tax in Mumbai. If the same amount is transferred to the Diamond City, it will get more benefits under the Central Government scheme.

As Dinesh Navadia, Surat Diamond Association president, concurs, "The SDA will certainly urge people from the industry to pay their tax in Surat. This will not only help the diamond industry, but also the general public in the city. Most of the small and medium diamond manufacturers have been paying their tax in Surat. The question is that of big diamond companies who prefer paying in Mumbai."