Shimla: Buoyancy in tax collection has enabled tax officials to up their ante for the year’s collection; with the excise and taxation department increasing the financial years target by over 8 percent.
NC Bekta, additional commissioner excise and taxation said, “the first quarters collection has been good and there is buoyancy in the tax collection.â€
He said that the government had fixed a target of Rs 2588 crore of tax collection for 2010-11, which the department would be able to achieve.
Sources, however, disclosed that the internal targets of tax collection has been upwardly revised to Rs 2800 crore, given the collections realized in the first quarter.
The department expects an increase in revenue of about Rs 90 crore because of enhancing VAT on 116 items from 4 to 5 percent.
Passenger tax, certain goods carried by road tax and other minor taxes like luxury tax are expected to contribute about Rs 260 crore, while excise realizations from liquor businesses is expected to fetch Rs 600 crore.
VAT is expected to contribute about Rs 1900 crore, the source said. Besides the state has also imposed entry tax, which would contribute towards achieving the revised target of Rs 2800 crore.
Bekta said that a revision of tax collection targets from different sectors and different districts had been undertaken.
“Our revised targets were attainable, especially after we start offering online tax filing facilities, which will help to plug leakages,†he said. The new online tax filing facility would be ready within the next three months, he added.
Meanwhile data for Shimla district along showed that against an years target of Rs 306 crore, the department in the first quarter had collected over Rs 100 crore.
The revised target for the district has been increased to Rs 330 crore, said a department official. In 2009-10 against a target of Rs 249 crore, the district had collected Rs 255 crore taxes.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
