E-Paper
Punjab’s tax collection hits all-time high at ₹24,772 crore in last fiscal
The overall VAT revenue in Punjab in the last fiscal was ₹ 7,533 crore, a jump of 25% from the previous year when the state collected ₹5,987 crore
Patiala: Despite the coronavirus pandemic and tax cut on petroleum products, Punjab reported its highest tax collection in last fiscal. In 2021-22, Punjab collected ₹24,772 crore various taxes, including value-added tax (VAT), goods and services tax (GST), central sales tax (CST) and Punjab state development tax (PSDT), a jump of 30% from 2020-21, when the state got a revenue of ₹18,977 crore.
“The overall collection has improved. It will get better as I have asked the officials to crack the whip on tax evaders. Our aim is to provide conducive atmosphere to genuine tax payers by punishing the evaders,” said finance, excise and taxation minister Harpal Singh Cheema. He said from the day one, the AAP government is working to increase revenue by plugging tax evasions and in March alone, the GST collection has increased by ₹224 crore.
Financial commissioner, Punjab excise and taxation, A Venu Prasad said despite Covid, Punjab collected ₹5,795 crore more than 2020-21. He said that increase in collection has been seen in Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib and other major industrial towns, as the department acted against the tax evaders. He said FIRs have been registered against persons who indulged in bogus billing. The department is taking help of advanced software and built own data centre to track tax evasion.
VAT collection up
The overall VAT revenue in the last fiscal was ₹ 7,533 crore, a jump of 25% from the previous year when the state collected ₹5,987 crore. The year-on-year surge in VAT revenue was driven by rise in fuel prices. Diesel and petrol account for 90% of the value-added tax in government kitty and the remaining 10% comes from aviation turbine fuel, and liquor.
“The decrease in VAT on petroleum products has increased sale and yielded good results,” said an official. The state government had lowered the VAT on petrol and diesel to make them cheaper by ₹10 per litre and ₹5 litre.
The central sales tax also increased by 35% in last fiscal with annual collection of ₹249 crore.
However, the GST mop-up remains much lower than the protected revenue of ₹32,868 crore annually. At the time of switching to the GST, the Centre had guaranteed 14% year-on-year growth over the 2015-16-base and the state was to be compensated for any shortfall. The new indirect tax regime was implemented from July 1, 2017.
