Revenue collections by the Registration and Commercial Taxes Departments, accounting for around one half of Tamil Nadu’s overall revenue receipts, have registered about 35% increase in the current financial year (2022-23) over the corresponding period of 2021-22.
Provisional official data available as on October 31 reveal that the collections of the Registration Department, indicating the level of activity in the real estate sector, were to the tune of ₹9,796.01 crore during April-October as against ₹7,226.46 crore for the same period last year, indicating an increase of 35.6%. In the seven months of this financial year, 19,68,387 documents were registered as against 15,81,308 last year, an increase of 24.5%.
As for the Department of Commercial Taxes, which implements the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act and the Central Sales Tax Act (relating to six goods, including high-speed diesel, petrol and alcoholic liquor), the collections were ₹77,030.18 crore, whereas they were ₹56,309.5 crore last year, an increase of 36.8%.
Broadly, the enhanced collections mean the recovery of the State’s economy after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are other reasons too, say officials and a representative of the real estate sector.
An official attributes the improved collections by the Department of Commercial Taxes to the measures taken to bring those who had all along filed nil returns under the GST. “Through persuasion, without involving any harassment,” the Department has brought many under the GST, the official explains.
A regular review and the fixing of micro-targets have also helped. On Monday, Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P. Moorthy chaired a meeting with officials to discuss the performance.
In the case of the Registration Department, another official says that virtually, all unsold stock of houses in the private sector in Chennai has been sold. The government is taking steps with respect to its stock. Measures like the extension of Chennai Metro Rail to Sholinganallur and Madhavaram have also contributed to the increased registration of documents.
Among other steps that have led to the rise are the disposal of cases (which do not involve major legal issues) through a new grievance redress mechanism, the functioning of 100 sub-registrar offices on Saturdays and the preferential treatment given to senior citizens and differently abled at the sub-registrar offices.
S. Ramaprabhu, chairman of the committee for municipal and DTCP [Directorate of Town and Country Planning], Builders Association of India, says intra-family transactions have increased in recent months. Even, a considerable number of non-resident Indians have disposed of their holdings. Those unapproved plots, which were regularised under the government’s scheme a few years ago, are being sold. At the same time, he points out, there has not been many new proposals in the real estate sector.
Published - November 04, 2022 12:26 am IST
