Finance ministry in last ditch efforts to boost tax collections
BS Economy Bureau
The finance ministry has stepped up efforts to boost its tax kitty. In the first 11 months of the current fiscal, it has added 3.395 million new assesses, which the ministry claims, has resulted in higher income tax collections.
In a statement issued today, the ministry said more such surveys were being conducted to ensure tax was deducted at source and deducted correctly. The surveys conducted in Mumbai and Delhi had thrown up cases of defaults in the deduction of tax involving substantial revenue, it said.
The finance ministry has also taken steps to ensure the speedy disposal of appeals before the commissioners of income tax (appeals), with several of them having already been disposed. This has resulted in the collection of arrears or the reduction of arrear demands. The revenue department had also taken up a large number of cases for scrutiny, leading to a larger collection out of the current demands, the statement said.
The government has realised Rs 604.49 billion gross direct tax collections during April 2001 to January 2002, marginally up 5.58 per cent, as against Rs 572.52 billion in the corresponding period last fiscal. Higher refunds of Rs 131.62 billion during the current fiscal compared to Rs 100.85 billion last fiscal, however, resulted in the net direct tax receipts remaining flat at Rs 472.87 billion as against Rs 471.67 billion during April-January last fiscal.
At the current level, the government has managed to collect only 55.76 per cent of the full year direct tax realisation target of Rs 848 billion.
In the next two months, the revenue department will have to collect Rs 375.13 billion if it has to achieve the full year target.
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