Telangana pushes to shut revenue leakages
‘For the first time we are going to have an intelligence cell with experts’
Hyderabad: While the Telangana government is working on all possible means to increase revenues, it is giving the utmost importance to plugging revenue leakages.
The impetus of the government can be seen in the key revenue generating departments like Commercial Tax, Excise and Prohibition and Stamps and Registration.
To increase its tax collections, these departments have taken innovative measures like never before.
The Commercial Taxes department, which contributes 60 per cent of the total state revenue, has finalised multiple measures over the last three months.
“For the first time we are going to have an intelligence cell with experts, including IT experts, that will handle the entire data and analyse regular transactions and collections periodically. For this the department will take the assistance of the Centre for Good Governance,” said a higher official of the Commercial Taxes department.
The CT authorities have already initiated steps to increase compliance by traders by increasing enforcement, penalising and other steps. “Traders with Rs 50 lakh annual revenue are applicable for VAT. However, most traders do not report their transactions, evading tax. Henceforth by increasing compliance they (traders) would be brought under the VAT category,” added the official.
Similarly, those who inform the department about tax evasion by traders will be rewarded with 10 per cent of the total tax collected, added the official. Meanwhile, the state Excise and Prohibition department has set up a system that will keep a tab on non-duty paid liquor in the market through a “tag and trace” system.