Hyderabad: Contrary to the general perception that commercial tax and other duties would be shared in the ratio of 42:58 between Telangana and AP, both states are now competing on dividing the collections.
As on July 31 the June commercial tax collections for Telangana has crossed Rs 2,400 crore while that for AP is around Rs 2,400 crore.
Thus the total revenue from commercial tax in both the states post bifurcation comes to around Rs 4,800 crore, indicating a 12 per cent growth.
In AP’s revenue mix the maximum tax of Rs 600 crore came from petroleum goods. The revenue from excise VAT on IMFL came to Rs 500 crore. In Telangana petroleum and excise duties contributed Rs 500 crore and Rs 400 crore respectively. The revenue from fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) was found to be higher in Telangana than in Andhra Pradesh.
“The FMCG consumption was found to be high in Hyderabad,” said a senior official of the AP Commercial Tax department. However, officials said that FMCG consumption in Hyderabad may go down in future when industries shift to AP. Officials say that FMCG contribution to Telangana’s revenue is estimated at Rs 1100 crore.
The increase in commercial tax collection in AP by Rs 60-70 crore is being attributed to the emphasis by AP officials on minor taxes like entertainment, profession, rural development cess and others.
After bifurcation the AP government issued a GO for setting up a VAT tribunal appellate authority in Vishakapatnam.
Earlier too the tribunal was functioning from Vishakapatnam but VAT related cases from Rayalaseema were being dealt with in Hyderabad.
On Wednesday the Andhra Pradesh government took a decision that the VAT related cases from its 13 districts will be dealt with by the Vishakapatnam VAT Appellate Tribunal.
The Tribunal will have a panel of three members including senior members from the judiciary, a member of additional commissioner rank from the Indian Revenue Services (IRS) and a member of not less than joint commissioner rank from the CT department.
