Kochi: The state commercial taxes department is yet to recover Rs 6,883 crore in arrears. According to a reply given under the Right To Information Act, Bharath Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd are the top defaulters, both exceeding Rs 100 crore. These cases have been stayed by the court. The department, in its reply given to activist Raju Vazhakkala, said Bharath Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Petronet LNG, Kochi Refineries Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation, Popular Vehicles and Services, Travancore Rayons Limited, Keranad Poliyol Industries, Pepsico and Shobha City, Puzhakkal, defaulted over Rs 10 crore.
The state had recently come out with a white paper on unrealised tax defaulters. The department blames legal tangles and shortage of staff as the reasons for the delay in recovering the amount. The defaulters point to the exorbitant assessment or penalties imposed by the authorities in the delay in paying the amount. In most cases, the defaulters move the Kerala Value Added Tax/Agricultural Income Tax and Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal and subsequently before the higher courts challenging the tax imposed on them.
A former government pleader claimed that pending cases relating to Rs 500 crore are before the HC. A top commercial taxes official claimed that the cases pending before the tribunal was the main reason for the delay in recovery. Another reason cited by the official is the death of a defaulter or change of hands of the business.
