Jammu and Kashmir tops in VAT collections, record CT revenue of Rs 1722 cr

Record revenue of Rs 1721.59 crore was earned by the Commercial Taxes Department by the end of February 2009 as compared to Rs 1623.87 crore during the same period last year.

This information was given to Minister for Finance, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Abdul Rahim Rather while reviewing the functioning of the department here this afternoon.

Commissioner/Secretary, Finance, Sudhanshu Pandey, Commissioner Commercial Taxes, Basher Ahmad and other senior officers of the department participated in the meeting.

The meeting was informed that revenue generated from General Sales Tax/Value Added Tax (GST/VAT) has been to the tune of Rs 1394. 31 crore by February, 2009 end while it was Rs. 1,287.72 crore during the same period last year which is a rise of about 12.94 percent . Out of Rs. 1394.31 crore revenue collection, Rs 936.14 crore was generated in Jammu province and Rs 458.17 crore from Kashmir province.

Similarly, under Motor Spirit Rs 275.37 crore, under stamps Rs 46.11 crore while as Rs 5.80 crore revenue was collected as Passenger tax during the same period.

Stating that the State earns major revenue from CT department, Rather stressed upon the officers to utilize their proficiency and ability for increasing the revenue realization. He hailed the efforts of the officers on the implementation of Value Added Tax and added that their efforts had made J&K, the first ranked state in the country in terms of VAT collections. He said that the performance should also be replicated in other areas, as well.

The Minister said for achieving better revenue realization friendly relationship between traders and officers is imperative. He said that there is a general perception among people that red-tape in government departments leads to delays and inconvenience. He said that such perceptions needs to be changed in the present times when the government is going for a customer friendly set up.

The Minister called for effective monitoring of tax realization and added that transparency and efficiency be maintained at all levels. He stressed upon the officers for undertaking random inspection and field visits to maximize the revenue realization in all the areas. He said that performance of officers would be judged on the basis of their revenue realization records.