Another Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection records have been broken by Punjab with an increase in the GST collection by 12.25% in 2020 over that in 2019 by Chandigarh. Total GST collection in the month of January 2020 stands at INR 143.97 crore, in the same month of the previous year it stood at INR 120.72 crore.
Integration of efforts like resolution of the issues that traders deal while filling tax, revocation of the accounts of registered dormant firms, stringent actions against the firms that have failed to file GSTRs for more than a year, keeping a hawk-eye on fraudulent practices, etc have resulted in the constant increase in GST collection by GST department of Punjab. Now GST department needs INR150 + INR 150 crore in the months of February & March of 2020 to meet the GST collection target of INR 1500 crore in the Fiscal Year 2019-20
Chandigarh No.1 Position in GST Return Filing in India
Among the major states and Union Territories, with the registration of 89.67% GST returns filing, the state & UT – Chandigarh outstripped neighboring states of Punjab & Haryana as well as Gujrat which stands at 2nd, 3rd and 4th ranks, respectively.
The records count around 30,000 as the total number of GST holders from Chandigarh. Among these 30,000 GST registered bodies, 12,000 bodies are controlled & taken care of by the excise and taxation department of the Central Government while the only 8,000 bodies are governed by the Chandigarh administration.
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This figure of 8,000 includes GST holders from various segments but the major contribution which led the UT collected highest GST revenue is from Hotels, screw manufacturers, Automobile industrialists, sanitaryware manufacturers, and electronics.
The total GST recovery in the first six months by the excise and taxation department of the Chandigarh administration is estimated at 94.70%. However, when we catch glimpses of total recovery by the Centre, the figure stands at 84.64% and if we compute the average of taking together the two, it stands 89.67%. However, the average collection of the nation is estimated at 80.1%.
This collection somewhere justifies the continuous efforts put in by various teams of the Exercise & Taxation department of India. The teams kept an eagle eye on tax evasion practices and bogus entities. On spot visits to the location of business entity, the E-way billing system and stringent actions against tax evasion are some of the measures introduced by the dept against the practices that lead to the stealing of government revenue.
A senior official monitoring the exercise, stated “Different teams of the department have been working rigorously to ensure maximum (GST) recovery. Besides the major manufacturers, automobile industry and other major players, we keep a constant check on the small businessmen as well. Consistent check on bogus firms also played a vital role in nailing down the tax evaders and we have taken strict action against them,”.
“We have not been giving registration number to just any company or business entity without making a spot visit to ensure it exists. Moreover, the E-Way billing system, which recently started, has brought a drastic change and its report plays a crucial role in catching the tax evaders,” he added.