Karnataka sees robust H1 revenue growth at 14.90%, despite floods, drought

Karnataka sees robust 14.90 per cent growth in revenue receipts in the first-half (April-September) of this fiscal (2019-20) at ₹87,350 crore compared with last year. Revenue receipts of the State includes its own tax revenue of ₹59,062 crore (growth of 15.25 per cent) and non-tax revenue of ₹ 2,919 crore (growth of 14.13 per cent).

Efficiency in tax collection has boosted Karnataka’s revenue despite the havoc caused by floods and drought in the State.“This has affected the socio-economic conditions and has also adversely impacted investment in infrastructure and other development activities in the State,” said Mid Year Review of State Finances 2019-20 tabled in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

State’s own tax revenue (SOTR) includes amongst others, the four major state taxes: commercial taxes, excise, motor vehicle taxes and taxes on stamps and registration.

Commercial taxes: With a collection of ₹38,831 crore, the State has achieved 18.5 per cent growth over the previous year and has achieved 51 per cent of budget estimates in tax collection during the first-half of 2019-20. Target for the whole fiscal is ₹76,046 crore.

GST

Goods and Services Tax for the first-half, the SGST collection has been ₹12,859 crore and the State has received a net settlement of ₹9,007 crore from the IGST account. In the same period, ₹830 crore has been collected from VAT and other subsumed taxes. Taking into account all these revenues, an amount of ₹22,696 crore has been collected for first-half of the year 2019-20.

Excise

State excise collection has fared well. As against the budgeted estimate of ₹20,950 crore, collection in the first-six months of this fiscal (2019-20) is 52 per cent that is₹10,796 crore with a growth rate of 9.8 per cent over corresponding period in previous fiscal (2018-19).

Motor vehicle taxes: Following the national trend, vehicle sales in the State has also declined. The tax collection decreased by 15.8 per cent compared with last year. For the fist-half of 2019-20, revenue collection achieved is 41 per cent against the budget estimate of ₹7,100 crore.

Stamps and registration

The receipts under stamps and registration tax collection are at 46 per cent of budget estimates and is growing at 9.3 per cent over that of corresponding period in 2018-19.