Inadequacies in the system to sheer lack of application by officials has seen the State lose crores in taxes between April 2011 and March 2016, illustrates the report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled in the Legislative Council on Friday.
Take for instance, professional tax on owners of transport vehicles. When CAG auditors perused the records, there were more than 15 lakh transport vehicles (apart from autorickshaws) plying in the State. The Commercial Tax Department records, however, showed that just 4,290 owners were paying professional tax amounting to just ₹6.55 lakh for five years. In actuality, it was found that there were 2.42 lakh owners, including nearly 33,000 persons that owned between two and 160 vehicles. The amount of revenue loss calculated between April 2011 and March 2016 was ₹137.11 crore.
“The Commercial Tax Department did not make any effort to obtain information of owners that were easily accessible,” said the report. This “lack of effort” has seen the department lose out on professional tax on those who work in the film industry, cable operators, service sectors, among others.
The CAG report on the revenue sector looks at 459 units under various departments responsible for tax collection. Of the over ₹1,017 crore deficiency pointed out, the State government has received just ₹33.72 crore, while a response for the rest was yet to be obtained.
The Department of Stamps and Registration was found not to have collected revenue of ₹442 crore — including a loss of ₹244.30 crore by not levying stamp duty on iron ore seized during the heydays of illegal mining in Ballari. The iron ore was auctioned for ₹4,886.08 crore, but stamp duty was not levied on it.
Similarly, the CAG report reveals that the Department of Mines and Geology had not levied penalties, amounting to ₹244.58 crore, against quarry owners who were transporting minor minerals without a mineral dispatch permit. Though the department cites a rule exempting minor minerals, the CAG has contested this. The matter is with the Law Department for clarification.
The business of ‘duplicate’ DL
If your licence or vehicle documents are impounded at one RTO, you could get lucky of you apply at another RTO for a “duplicate” of the documents.
The surprising scenario was unearthed by the CAG, which found in at least 13 cases — of the nearly 3,750 records checked — the RTO has issued duplicates of licence and other documents though these were impounded in other RTOs for offences such as non-payment of taxes or violation of permit conditions. In a further 15 cases, No Objection Certificate — for transfers or re-registering — were given despite several cases being filed against them in other RTOs.
