The Commissioner of Taxes and Excise is the authority that presides over VAT in Tripura. Moreover, the state government of Tripura maintains this department and levies several other state taxes alongside VAT. All dealers doing business in Tripura or exporting goods and services from the state need to register themselves and their business with the department to pay their VAT dues.

As per Section 87 of the Tripura Value Added Tax Act, the Tripura VAT rules were enacted in 2005. However, VAT in Tripura was introduced in 2004.

Value Added Tax or VAT is a type of indirect tax introduced on 1st April 2005 in the Indian taxation system. This tax was levied on the sales of goods and services, i.e., this tax is charged on gross margin at every stage in the sales of a product.

Additionally, VAT is a multi-phase tax; hence, the sellers pass the responsibility of paying VAT on to the consumers. The Government of India introduced this indirect tax to minimise the possibility of tax evasion and promote compliance. Further, VAT also helps with basic level transparency in the sales of goods and services.

However, the GST replaced the implementation of VAT to bring in the “one nation, one tax” policy. In the case of VAT, every state had a separate set of rules under different state acts. Just like Tripura has the Tripura VAT Act.

In Tripura, the state government levies taxes on both manufactured and imported goods. The rates are decided based on various categories or schedules. These Tripura VAT schedules are explained below in a tabular format:

Dealers who qualify to pay VAT can register their business online. In order to e-Register themselves, one should follow the steps below:

Step 1: Visit the official web portal of Tripura’s VAT handling department

Step 2: On the homepage, click on the “e-Registration” tab

Step 3: Follow the direction given on the website and fill up details like email address, business name and address, PAN, date of inception, etc

Step 4: Download the form and duly fill them out. The different forms related to this process are:

• Form I- This is a registration form
• Form II- This is a certificate of registration
• Form VII- This is for registering goods transported into Tripura
• Form XL- Declaration form concerning manager, officers, or persons in charge
• Form XXXVIII- Sales statement form 
• Form XIX- This is for the daily collection register
• Form XVI- This is an Appeal form
• Form XVIII- This is a challan for payment
• Form XXI- This is a refund form
• Form XI- This form is for getting a Deduction certificate
• Form XXIX- Tax invoice
• Form XXXVII- This is a purchase statement

Step 5: After filling up these forms, one needs to submit them back in the portal in .xlm format

Step 6: Applicants must also upload the necessary documents along with the forms. These documents include the following:

• PAN
• Business Address Proof
• Proof of Ownership
• Trade licence

Step 7: The approval authority will check the data and submit an inspection report with recommendations

Step 8: Post approval, the department will generate the TIN and RC for that business

Business owners who want to register for VAT online in Tripura should refer to the following steps:

Step 1: Business owners need to visit the website of the Commissionerate of Taxes & Excise, Government of Tripura

Step 2: Click on the e-Payment link under the VAT segment

Step 3: Registered users will be directed towards a webpage consisting of parts like tax details and TIN, which they need to fill

Step 4: After duly filling the form, one needs to click on submit

Step 5: Applicants will be given an e-payment reference number which they need to save for the future while making online payments

Step 6: Post submission, the dealer will be redirected to the net banking page where they have to pay the fee

Step 7: If the payment is completed, the portal will generate a challan

Registered users can use the Tripura government’s VATSoft portal for e-filing VAT returns. One can follow the steps mentioned below:

Step 1: Individuals should log in to their registered account

Step 2: Select the “entry” tag under the “returns entry” category

Step 3: Next, the user needs to select the month and year for which they want to file the VAT returns

Step 4: One needs to fill up all the forms that will appear successively

Step 5: After saving all the details and information, applicants need to click on “payment details” under the “entry” tab

Step 6: Choose a payment period and add details as instructed

Step 7: Applicants will be directed to make payments

The Government of India introduced GST or Goods and Services Tax to bring equality in tax rates for all states. After its implementation, indirect taxes were eliminated, including Value Added Tax, Service Taxes, Octroi and Excise Duty.

In VAT, the end retailer always has to pay taxes even though it is levied on different stages of production. On the contrary, the GST is implied at every stage of the supply of those goods and services. VAT also has a cascading effect on the economy, which the implementation of GST has eliminated.

This blog has discussed in detail all the aspects of VAT in Tripura. Even though it is not used as widely as it used to be, it is always good to know about it to make informed decisions in business.