State expecting Rs.30,000 crore from commercial taxes

The State government is hopeful of netting Rs.30,000 crore through commercial taxes.

In the current financial year, collections were around Rs.20,376 crore [till the end of November], recording 25.5 per cent growth rate. During the corresponding period last year, the government collected around Rs.16,230 crore.

As in the previous years, this time too, Chennai with four divisions has accounted for nearly 80 per cent of the revenue. During April-November 2010, Chennai South collected Rs.6,497 crore; Central – Rs.4,998 crore; North – Rs.2,831 crore and East – Rs.1,675 crore.

Besides, the Coimbatore division had crossed the Rs.1,000-crore mark with Rs.1,477 crore.

Referring to the determination of the original target of around Rs.26,851 crore, Md. Nasimuddin, Secretary of the Commercial Taxes and Registration Department, says the Department is likely to cross the Rs.30,000-crore mark.

The optimism is also based on the fact that collections are normally higher during the later period of financial year.

In November alone, the collections were about Rs.2,640 crore, which was nearly Rs.500 crore higher than what was netted in November 2009.

Mr. Nasimuddin says that the focus has been on tightening the monitoring mechanism on evasion-prone commodities and collecting collectible arrears. Even as the department is engaged in achieving its target, it is also keen that law-abiding and tax-paying traders are not harassed.