- I Paid A Bribe
- 13 years ago
- 712 views
Sales Tax Officer - Abuse of discretionary powers
- Commercial Tax, Sales Tax, VAT
- Sales Tax Audit
- Paid INR 5,000
As a fresh graduate and young 21 years old in 1981 I wanted to start a business to give employement to others rather than seek employment. It was a 100% export business so was Sales Tax exempt. I still had to get registered so that I did not have to pay Sales Tax on my purchases. Everything was overboard. My seed capital was Rs. 60,000. The Sales Tax Officer (ab)used his discretionary powers and asked me to get 2 guarantees of Rs. 30,000 each from 2 existing registerant who had a sale of at least Rs. 1 Lakh each. It was a big sum in 1981 and too onerous for a fresh starter like me. I had to pay Rs. 5,000 bribe to bring the 2 guarantee amounts to Rs. 5,000 each. What a stark lesson in doing business for a young idealistic enterprenuer!!! Thereafter I must have paid bribes umpteen number of times before finally leaving the country in 2002 for *******