The Hindu Business Line : Direct tax collections in Gujarat up by 32 pc

"We stand at eighth or ninth in the all-India collections, way behind Mumbai and Delhi which are the top two. Even Pune collects more tax than Gujarat. When I asked someone in the State why Gujarat comes so low in the national ranking, I was told that the people of the State have mastered the art of tax planning," the State Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax, Mr U. P. Singh, said here on Wednesday.

The Government has collected Rs 4,951 crore as direct taxes from Gujarat, meeting its annual target for the first time since 1995-96, Mr Singh said.

Personal income-tax collection rose 21 per cent from Rs 2,107 crore to Rs 2,542 crore during 2004-05, while corporation tax rose 47 per cent from Rs 1,632 crore to Rs 2,407 crore.

The total number of tax returns filed during the year has risen 6.04 per cent to 21.21 lakh, while the number of returns showing greater than Rs 10 lakh annual income rose 26 per cent from 6,385 to 8,040.

The State has a little over 34 lakh permanent account number holders, Mr Singh said. In a bid to help small tax payers, the Income-Tax Department has proposed to set up self-help centres in consultation with non-government organisations and citizens' bodies.

"We hope to open such centres at several locations across the State in the next few months. They will be outside our premises because our feedback tells us that people are not comfortable about visiting the Income Tax Department offices," he said.

On the turn-around time for tax returns, Mr Singh said that most of the returns were examined in four months and refund orders or collection notices issued where required. Grievance cases, mostly pertaining to refunds, are taken up within 15 days, he added.

"We do get complaints about non-receipt of refunds. That normally happens if the income-tax assessee changes address and shifts to a new city. If there are some incorrect entries, then too it may take longer to process the return," he said.

The number of cases taken up for scrutiny in the State is about 20,000 or 1 per cent in a year. The figure is much below the national average of 2-3 per cent, Mr Singh said.

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