Govt took various steps to boost revenue flow: FinMin

The Department of Revenue has taken a raft of initiatives to step up revenue collection, the Finance Ministry today said.
Keeping interests of domestic farmers in mind, the government has raised basic Customs duty on sugar to 40 per cent from the earlier 15 per cent in two instalments, it said in a statement.
The basic Customs duty of 10 per cent was imposed on wheat, which was later increased to 25 per cent for a period up to March 31, 2016.
In a step aimed at improving ease of doing business, the ministry said, legal provisions have been amended to allow a manufacturer to use digital signature on invoices and preserve records in electronic format.

Penalty provisions in service tax have also been rationalised to encourage compliance and early dispute resolution.
Stating that the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) and Commissionerates have booked 4,945 cases involving a duty of Rs 1,545.11 crore in April-October 2015, the ministry said an additional Rs 226.38 crore has been mobilised from anti-evasion operations in the said period.