The drive against black money and the widening of tax base seem to have increased the number of people filing their income tax returns (ITR) as well as central revenue collection in Kerala.
The widening of the tax base saw at least a 20% growth when compared to the previous year. A senior Income Tax official told The Hindu that the total revenue collected was ₹13,067 crore from the six Income Tax commissionerate offices in the State for 2016-17. It was ₹10,207 crore in 2015-2016. The increase could have been due to demonetisation and the campaign against undisclosed income, he said.
The campaign had given black money holders an opportunity to come clean by paying tax and a penalty of 45% on such assets. Now the target for this fiscal from the State is ₹15,000 crore, he said.
Only less than 3% of the population in the State remit income tax. But more people are being brought into the tax net. Of the tax collected, 50% are Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and the major share of the direct tax collected was from the Kochi commissionerate, the official said.
The growth rate of those filing income tax returns is likely to further increase in the coming years. The exact number of those who filed returns can be ascertained in the coming days though about 21,000 people filed the IT returns manually. At the national level, the increase was reported to be a record 24.7% when compared to the previous year.
Many habitual tax defaulters have been forced to reveal their income source. Many in the Kerala film industry usually filed their returns in Chennai. The IT Department had already collected details of 50,000 people whose income did not match their payment profiles.
“A survey carried out has revealed that 30% of the undisclosed income has been deposited in the cooperative sector. Most of the depositors include retired employees and those involved in land dealings. They have been misinformed that deposits in the cooperative bank are not taxed,” he said.
The official said that some cooperative banks operating in rural areas with political clout refused to disclose the names of the depositors. “They may temporarily oppose the IT Department actions but they have no other option,” he pointed out.
