UP collects Rs 80,000 crore in taxes during first 8 months of FY19

Yogi government to target tax evaders through stiffer enforcement of tax rules

Uttar Pradesh government has collected more than Rs 80,000 crore in taxes during the first eight months (April-November) of the current financial year 2019-20.

However, tax collection is yet only 58 per cent of the targetted tax purse of more than Rs 1.40 trillion during the fiscal year. Now with only four months (Dec 2019-March 2020) left in the current financial cycle and Rs 60,000 crore outstanding in the target, the Yogi Adityanath government is upping the ante against tax evaders through stiffer enforcement of tax rules.

In his review meeting on tax and non-tax revenue here recently, UP finance minister Suresh Kumar Khanna had pulled up officials of the concerned departments to ensure that the tax collection targets were achieved.

He instructed officials of the state Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Value Added Tax (VAT), excise, stamp and registration, land revenue and energy departments to speed up enforcement activities and put an effective control on tax evasion in the state to plug revenue leakages.

Last month, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had also rapped taxman for failing to expand the state GST net, which was getting reflected in lower tax collection over successive months. At present, 1.4 million traders are registered under the GST, which he claimed should be expanded to 2.5 million before the start of the next financial year on April 1, 2020.

He also set the target of Rs 1 trillion in GST revenue in the next 2020-21 fiscal year compared to Rs 77,640 crore in the current 2019-20 cycle.

Besides, the state has so far collected Rs 4,632 crore or about 15 per cent of the targetted non-tax revenue of Rs 30,632 crore during the first six months (Apr-Sep 2019) of the current financial year.

Interestingly, while the state tax collection has been rather muted, the government is also awaiting the repatriation of its share in the central tax basket, apart from central grants.

According to the 2nd UP Supplementary Budget 2019-20 documents, the state is estimated to receive nearly Rs 1.53 trillion from the Centre as its annual share in central tax collection. However, during Apr-Sep 2019 period, UP has only received about Rs 55,900 crore or 37 per cent of its share.

Besides, the state has only received Rs 13,500 crore or less than 20 per cent of the promised central grants till September 2019.

In 2019-20, UP is targetting total tax mop-up, including commercial tax, of Rs 1.4 trillion, 4.4% more than the revised budgetary estimates of Rs 1.34 trillion during 2018-19 financial year.

In 2019-20, the government has projected total revenue kitty of Rs 3.91 trillion, including tax and non-tax revenue, both emanating from state and its share from tax and non-tax revenue of the Centre, apart from the central grants.

Of total tax revenue of about Rs 2.93 trillion, Rs 1.4 trillion would accrue from own resources, while Rs 1.53 trillion would come as the state’s share in the central taxes.