Mumbai: The spectre of rising revenue deficit has the State government going in for rather desperate measures, including raising the stamp duty on gift and conveyance deeds. Earlier, the stamp duty on these deeds, including those between blood relatives, ranged between ₹200 and ₹500. The State Cabinet has now decided to increase this to 3% of the property’s market value. The State budget for 2017-18 has estimated the revenue deficit for that year at ₹4,511 crore.
To add to people’s woes, the BJP-led government increased the surcharge on the sale of petrol from ₹9 to ₹11. This effectively negates the recent reduction in petrol prices of ₹2.16 announced by the Central government, and gives Maharashtra the dubious distinction of having the country’s most expensive petrol at ₹76.91 per litre. Last week, the government also appointed a committee to look into ways to increase revenue.
While the government hopes to earn an additional ₹400 crore to ₹500 crore through these measures, it is uncomfortably aware of the fall in revenue due to certain measures taken over the past year. The Supreme Court ban on sale of liquor within 500 metres of national highways will translate into an estimated ₹7,000-crore loss to the State exchequer, while implementing the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations will mean an additional expenditure of ₹15,000 crore annually, and increase the amount spent on salaries and pensions to around ₹1.25 lakh crore per year.
When the Goods and Services Tax (GST) comes into force, the State government will have to offset the losses suffered by 26 municipal corporations where Local Body Taxes (LBT) has already been abolished in 2015. Only the BMC will have losses due to abolition of Octroi reimbursed by the Centre. This expenditure is estimated to be nearly ₹6,000 crore and increase by at least 8-10% every year.
While government officials declined to comment, the Opposition was quick to accuse the government of ‘financial indiscipline’. “The government has suffered financial losses after the SC ban [on liquor sales near national highways], and it is trying to compensate for this by taxing the common man. The government has failed to provide relief to people despite the fall in international prices of crude oil. The situation may worsen after the introduction of GST,” Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said.
