AP tops in direct tax revenue earnings

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, MARCH 7. Andhra Pradesh continues to be one of the top direct tax revenue earning States in the country with the tax rate growth expected to be around 52 per cent for the current financial year ending on March 31. With the revised tax target set at Rs.3,051 crores, the department was confident of coming close to the Rs.3,000 crore mark.

`The State has been doing exceptionally well in the last few years because of the growth of the services sector particularly information technology. This year alone we had added 95,000 new tax assesses to the existing nine lakhs,' said the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Mr. C.V. Padmanabhan, here on Wednesday.

The department had already mopped up Rs.1,858 crores till the end of February and it was expecting to take at least Rs.1,000 crores more by the month end. While the Income tax target was Rs.1,372 crores till February end, Rs.790.18 crores was collected against Rs.452 crores last year. With regard to corporate tax, the target was Rs.1,672 crores and the amount collected was Rs.1,060.62 crores (last year Rs.755 crores).

After the capital city, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada were the centres where high tax collections were made. The Chief Commissioner was of the opinion that one-by-six criteria was not much of a help as a majority of them were already tax payees.

The department was going in for restructuring and computerisation drive. `Within an year we wish to computerise our operations at the officers level so that the scrutiny of the cases was more scientific,' he said. A website could also be developed soon, he added.

FAPCCI hails CT dept.

The Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI) has expressed happiness at the improvement in the working of the Commercial Taxes Department in recent times. In a statement on Wednesday, Mr. Mohanlal Gupta, president, said two meetings held recently had helped create a proper environment.

Some of the measures on which he expressed happiness are instructions to the department personnel that the inspecting officials (or on raids) must use Government vehicles and not private ones. Another was that officials (after inspection) will not be allowed to take away original books of accounts and other documents from the premises in which the inspections are conducted.

The Commissioner of Commercial Taxes notified that the registration certificate to any applicant (dealers) has to be issued by the department within 30 days from the date of application, he said.

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