Service tax collection doubles in DK dist

Mangalore commissionerate, that covers the coastal Karnataka districts of Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi districts, is all set to record a whopping rise in the service tax collection this year.

John Joseph, commissioner of Central Excise, who took charge in October 2004 told Business Standard that so far this year the total excise collection has been around Rs 3,000 crore and it is expected to touch Rs 3,500 crore. Last year it was only Rs 2,200 crore.

The Central Excise Day will be celebrated on February 24 (the day on which the Central Excise Act was born). The day will seen an interaction with assessees and the problems in implementing excise duty will be thrashed out.

There have been 14 big cases of tax evasion and numerous minor ones. "We send audit teams to these companies and serve 'no exemption' notification. However, we normally don't punish the company unless they totally avoid paying excise duty," said Joseph. A petroleum company owes around Rs 40 crore. We are finalising the issue and the matter will be settled soon. Generally, there will be accounting manipulation to avoid paying the exact amount of excise duty and service tax.

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited is the biggest contributor and contributes Rs 200 crore to Rs 250 crore every month.

A help centre has been set up at the office of the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) manned by the KCCI staff. All queries will be answered in 48 hours. Frequent seminars and interactions are conducted for the benefit of the small-scale industries and service tax assessees.

More and more interactions are being held to clear people's doubts. Hence, there has been more tax compliance and more revenue inflow. Many people are not aware they are under the tax net. The audit department has also been strengthened, he said.