Total tax dues of Rs2,333.47 crore have remained uncollected from various business establishments operating in four circles under the Bhubaneswar Range by February 2015, informed Finance Minister Pradip Kumar Amat in the Assembly on Monday. Replying to questions by Bijya Kumar Mohanty and other members, the Minister said five kinds of tax, OST/VAT, Central State Tax (CST), Entry Tax (ET), Profession Tax and Entertainment Tax are collected from the business establishments. The uncollected dues include OST/VST of Rs1,131.19 crore, CST of Rs406.18 crore, Entry Tax of Rs793.42 crore and Entertainment Tax of Rs2.68 crore.
Regarding non-collection of the tax dues, the Minister said while Rs24.28 crore has remained uncollected due to Supreme Court’s stay order, Rs492.27 crore due to High Court stay order and Rs625.69 crore for stay order issued by the Departmental Appeal Authority. Similarly, the tax recovery proceedings have been initiated for Rs101.93 crore and show-cause notices have been issued in respect of pending dues of Rs1089.30 crore.
The Minister said the Government has decided to open a dedicated Tax Collection Branch in Bhubaneswar to collect taxes from the units. He said all data relating to tax dues have been computerized. A State Dispute Resolution Committee has been constituted in order to collect dues from the Government-run corporations/companies/undertakings on mutual understanding. Similarly, Appeal Officers have been asked to dispose of appeals in stipulated time period, the Minister said. In response to a query, Amat urged BJP members to pursuewith the Central Government to withdraw the direction of annulment of check gates issued under ‘Make in India’ programme.