Comments
Tax collections in the country have seen a growth of 26 per cent over 2009-10 and the trend is likely to be maintained during this fiscal, Mr Sunil Mitra, Revenue Secretary, said here on Friday.
Following the rise in collections, the Finance Ministry has already revised its tax estimates for the fiscal, he said. The revised indirect tax target for this fiscal stands at Rs 3,36,000 crore while the direct tax collection target for the fiscal is Rs 4,46,000 crore.
Initially, indirect tax collection estimates for this fiscal were pegged at Rs 3,15,000 crore and direct tax estimates at Rs 4,30,000 crore.
Speaking on the sidelines of a programme organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Mr Mitra said: “In indirect tax we have already collected 92 per cent of the total target while in direct tax collections are 79 per cent till March 12. Our share of indirect taxes has grown by 41 per cent. “
DTC, GST
Contrary to the Union Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee's assurance of rolling out the Goods and Service Tax (GST) and Direct Taxes Code regime by April 2012, the Revenue Secretary expressed his concern over the imposition of GST by the specified deadline.
According to him, “divergence in views” between the States and the Centre were yet to be ironed out in case of imposition of GST. He, however, indicated that the rollout of the Direct Taxes Code was on track.
“I have concerns as April 2012 does not sound possible. If we introduce the Constitutional amendment Bill this session, that has to be examined by the Parliamentary Committee. If it gives its recommendations by the winter session it will be difficult…. I personally feel it will take longer as there are divergences between the Centre and States that needs to be ironed out,” he said.
The Government will also start a pilot project on GST IT Network by June with 11 States being a part of it.
The Finance Ministry has also approved the setting up of the National Information Utility through a special purpose vehicle to interlink all IT infrastructure. Projects like Goods and Services Tax (GST), tax information network, new pension scheme and national treasury information will be brought under the National Information Utility.
New CII Office Bearers
Meanwhile, Mr Ranaveer Sinha, Managing Director, Telco Construction Equipment Company Ltd, has been elected as the new Chairman of CII (Eastern Region), while Mr R.K. Agrawal, Senior Partner, S R Batliboi Ltd, will be the Deputy Chairman of CII (Eastern Region).
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.