Akangjungla
Trapped in the political tussle, Nagaland has been driven by different conflicts for decades now. The burden of taxation being the most grievous has been the point of many events marked in the history of the Naga people, the most recent being the call sent out by the Dimapur Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI) on September 11, 2021 for total business shutdown in Dimapur on September 16, 2021 to protest the Nagaland government’s inaction against illegal and multiple taxation.
A day after the DCCI called for the shutdown of businesses in the state’s commercial hub, the Confederation of Nagaland Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CNCCI) announced that it will impose a state-wide business closure on the same day. Following the decision of the CNCCI, many trade organizations from different parts of the state quickly extended solidarity with the DCCI to highlight the plight of the business community due to multiple and rampant illegal taxation by various groups as well government agencies.
The Nagaland trade bodies are visibly disappointed at the lack of response to the representation submitted to the Government of Nagaland through the Chief Secretary by the CNCCI which demanded an immediate resolution of the multiple taxation issue. It had also called for removal of all forms of tax/fee collected by the civic bodies on items that come under the GST regime which has subsumed all taxes under ‘one nation one tax.’
Along with the solidarity moves, the trade bodies also sent across a caution to the State government to respond positively, failing which they clearly plan to step up its agitation and resort to further and extreme courses of action if the government of the day fails to address the genuine plight of the business community.
With the day of state-wide shutdown approaching, the Nagaland government on September 13, 2021 decided to immediately do away with collection of any kind of tax/fees on items/goods that come under the GST regime. The government also appealed to the Confederation to reconsider its call for a state-wide shutdown, however, it came too late, too little as the trade bodies are adamant to go ahead with their decision.
In Nagaland, the interpretation of taxation is extortion and that is where the issue lies. Complaints and agitations against the evil of multiple-layered taxation is not a new occurrence in Nagaland. A total of 66 per cent responded ‘Yes’ to the poll question conducted by this newspaper in October 2020 on if ‘illegal taxation is the biggest barrier to economic growth and development in Nagaland?’ A respondent summed up for the 66 per cent who responded ‘Yes by stating, “It is a shame that in Nagaland we still have to bear the brunt of “illegal” taxation even in this 21st century. People everywhere pay income tax to the Government and which is used for essential public works, infrastructure, roads and what not. But here in Nagaland it is the opposite. We pay numerous taxes to numerous organizations to play empty trumpets. How will our economy grow when small/large businesses cannot even keep themselves afoot due to this taxation?”
As the business community imposes the state-wide shutdown on September 16, 2021, the entire state of Nagaland, which was formed in 1963 and given a special status and exempted from taxes, can only hope that this will be the beginning of breaking the vicious cycle of illegal taxation and not just end up as another historical event.
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