Roving Squad of Commercial Taxes Department gets hand-held devices

State Commercial Taxes and Registration Department Minister, S. Gokula Indira, on Thursday distributed 35 hand-held terminals for use by the Roving Squad of the Commercial Taxes Department.

Later talking to reporters, Ms. Indira said that the electronic devices were enabled with SIM cards to provide GSM connectivity to the central data server of the department. Tax payer identification (TIN) number, central sales tax number verification and return verification number modules have been included in the device.

Using the information from the Central database through these modules, the enforcement wing officials would be able to check the genuineness of TIN of consignor/consignee and registered place of business/branches godowns of consignor/consignee and the return field status of consignor and consignee.

The officials could also check whether the goods being moved had these documents, she said. The Roving Squad would be able to arrest tax evasion in goods transactions and safeguard the revenue.

The new system would also save time for vehicles, which are otherwise detained for checking the documents. Initially 35 such devices, bought at a cost of Rs.9.25 lakh, were distributed to officials in Chennai and Coimbatore divisions of the department, she said.

The Minister also held a review meeting. She sought the help of officials to earn more revenue for the State.