Bangalore, March 05: In a move that will make a host of things costly, Karnataka today increased VAT and luxury tax to mop up Rs 1,829 crore in a surplus budget that doles out sops worth around Rs 3,000 crore to farmers.
Eyeing the next month’s civic polls in Bangalore, which is notorious for its infrastructure, the Rs 51.42-crore surplus budget also focuses a lot on the city’s infrastructure development, including Rs 600 crore for a metro project.
The budget, presented by chief minister Yeddyurappa increases value added tax on goods by 1 per cent to 13.5 per cent and from 4 to 5 per cent, while on tobacco products it goes up to 15 from 12.5 per cent.
–Agencies