The Hindu Business Line : Kerala to form tax settlement panel

The Government has issued orders to the effect. And till the commission is in place, the tax tribunal will perform the role, according to the Finance Minister, Mr Vakkom Purushothaman.

He told newspersons here on Friday that there are 6,000 cases pending before the high court and another 2,000 cases before other authorities. The total amount involved is Rs 760 crore.

Apart from sales tax disputes, there are many abkari cases pending, with the total amount running to Rs 230 crore, he said.

The minister informed that the State's annual plan outlay is being pruned by 12.3 per cent or Rs 592 crore. The outlay was originally fixed at Rs 4,800 crore.

Mr Purushothaman said the plan expenditure had been quite satisfactory over the last few years with achievement at 83.6 per cent, 83.9 per cent, 98 per cent and 85.2 per cent, respectively, from 2000-01 till 2003-04. This year, it is expected to be 86.7 per cent.

He said public debt stood at Rs 39,694 crore at the end of October this year. However, there has been a progressive reduction in the increase in public debt in recent years.

The public debt was at Rs 20,176 crore in 1999-2000, at a rise of 28.5 per cent over the previous year. In 2000-01, the debt increased by 18.6 per cent to Rs 23,919 crore, while it rose by 12.7 per cent to reach Rs 26,951 crore the following year.

In 2003-04, the rise was to the tune of 20.6 per cent and the debt stood at Rs 37,452 crore. In the current year, the Government is trying to restrict the increase below 11 per cent, the minister said.

The Finance Minister noted that there had been a rise in non-plan expenditure in the current year. For instance, nearly Rs 1,000 crore more than the Budget estimate had to be spent in the education sector following the creation of 20,000-odd new posts.

Besides, the State is paying Rs 3,712 crore a year as interest. Of late, the Government has been trying to bring down the interest liability by going in for debt swap and, so far, debt to the tune of Rs 4,500 crore has been swapped, the minister said.

Mr Purushothaman disclosed that the reduction in stamp duty had resulted in a fall of Rs 300 crore in revenue collection. The stamp duty was lowered with the expectation that it would lead to better compliance. Since this has not happened, the Government is considering raising the duty again, he said.

On his reported statement about imposing a luxury tax on extravagant wedding functions, Mr Purushothaman said he wanted it to be debated among the public. It could be that not all farm loans were being used for the actual purpose but spent on ostentatious lifestyles, which ultimately drove many to commit suicide, he said.