ADOPTION OF TAMIL NADU VALUE ADDED TAX IN KARAIKUDI- A SURVEY

Tax is compulsory charge imposed by the Government without any expectation of direct return in benefit. In other words, tax is a compulsory payment or contribution by the people to the Government for which there is no direct return to the tax payers. Tax imposes a personal obligation on the people to pay the tax if they are liable to pay it. The general public should be taxed according to their ability to pay, and the people in the same financial position should be taxed in the same way without any discrimination. Tax is classified into two categories- Direct Tax & Indirect Tax. Direct tax is the tax, burden of which cannot be shifted to others. e.g. Income Tax. In this the tax is paid by the person who earns and nobody accepts him can pay his tax on his behalf. Indirect tax is the tax which is levied on commodities, a manufacturer charges the distributor and distributor charges the wholesaler, wholesaler receives from the retailer, retailer in turn from his customer. The burden of these taxes can be transferred to other forms like Value Added Tax, Sales Tax etc. This paper focuses on the adoption of Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax in Karaikudi Town, Sivagangai District of Tamil Nadu. VAT is the most progressive way of taxing consumption rather than business. The common system of value added tax shall be applied up to and including the retail trade stage.