Commercial tax collection up 24% in Apr-Oct

Commercial tax collection in the April-October period has witnessed growth of 23.52 per cent to reach Rs 4,698.34 crore compared to Rs 3,803.82 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal.

The state has also achieved 46.05 per cent of the targeted collection of Rs 10,201.78 crore set for 2011-12.

Value Added Tax (VAT) has been the major driver of commercial tax collection. VAT collection stood at Rs 3,608.14 crore till October-end, registering an increase of 22.78 per cent over the year-ago period. VAT collection target is pegged at Rs 7,989.22 crore for this fiscal.

Central Sales Tax (CST) collection at Rs 365.21 crore has also recorded surge of 23.38 per cent over the corresponding period of previous fiscal. The total sales tax collection in this period rose from Rs 3,234.63 crore to Rs 3,973.35 crore, clocking a rise of 22.84 per cent.

The state has also mopped up Rs 657.62 crore by way of entry tax, posting growth of 29.62 crore. The target for entry tax collection has been fixed at Rs 1,352.37 crore for 2011-12.

Professional tax collection at Rs 62 crore was a flat growth of around two per cent over Rs 60.46 crore in the same period of 2010-11.

The state finance department expects to meet the Rs 10,000-crore collection target for commercial taxes in this fiscal.

It said, the sales tax evasion by industrial and mining firms, which was exposed recently, will not dent commercial tax collections.

As per the report of Special Investigation Team of State Vigilance, nine big companies, mostly in steel & mines sector and 75-odd small and medium scale firms were found guilty of sales tax evasion on taxable business of Rs 3,164 crore.

The finance department expects to mop up sales tax of Rs 700 crore from the errant companies that have defaulted on tax payment by camouflaging taxable sales as non-tax income.