Taxmen told to step up efforts to achieve targets for FY20
NEW DELHI: Revenue secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey has asked senior tax officials to step up efforts to collect tax so as to achieve the ₹13.5 lakh crore target for direct tax in FY20, and to collect ₹4.55 lakh crore of goods and services tax (GST) in the remaining four months of the financial year, both without resorting to any overreach, two government officials said on condition of anonymity.
“The GST target for three of the next four collection months is ₹1.10 lakh crore, and it is ₹1.25 lakh crore for one of these four months,” one of the officials added, referring to Pandey’s meeting with taxmen through video conference on Monday.
That’s a tall order, said analysts. GST is a tax on consumption and the slowdown in the economy affected the revenue collection for three consecutive months—august, September and October—taking revenue below the ₹1 lakh crore a month benchmark.
India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 4.5% in the July-september quarter, the lowest since March 2013. However, GST collections picked up in November mainly due to a government-induced stimulus and a spur in demand during the festive month. The GST collection in November was ₹1,03,492 crore.
Pandey has told officials to not offer the excuse of a corporate tax relief package worth ₹1.45 lakh crore for missing the collection target, the first official added.
The government on September 20 took a decision to reduce corporate tax rate for domestic manufacturing companies from 30% to 22% and for new manufacturing companies from 25% to 15% provided they forgo all other exemptions.
The revenue secretary has raised the bar for direct tax collection in the current financial year by about ₹15,000 crore as the budget estimate of direct tax revenue collection for the financial year 2019-20 was ₹13.35 lakh crore (corporate tax of ₹7.66 lakh crore and personal income tax of ₹5.69 lakh crore).
Pandey told officials that despite being busy with budget preparation, he will be visiting various tax offices every weekend to monitor collections efforts, the two officials said. He asked senior revenue officers, including members of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the Central Board of Direct Tax (CBDT) to make weekly field visits.
The video conference was attended by members of CBIC, CBDT, principal chief commissioners, chief commissioners and other officers across the country.
The officials said the revenue secretary was also clear that no tax payer be harassed.
“Officers have been particularly urged to ensure that during such field enforcement drive and visits, no taxpayer is troubled,” the first official said.