Punjab Taxation Commissioner Kamal Kishor Yadav on Friday asked the officers of the Department to adopt zero-tolerance policy for checking the pilferage of taxes to enhance revenue generation in the State.
Yadav, chairing a meeting of the Department with officials of the Amritsar Taxation Division to review the tax collection, unequivocally said that any sort of laxity in checking tax evasion will not be tolerated.
He said that every officer is duty-bound to ensure that pilferages of taxes, if any, is checked with a heavy hand. “Pilferage of taxes causes huge losses to the state exchequer which is not at all tolerable,” he said adding that the department will now further tighten the noose against all tax evaders.
Reiterating their commitment to zero tolerance against corruption, he said that severest of the severe action will be taken against anyone found indulging in this menace. “The services to the people must be provided in a time-bound manner without any inordinate delay. Department should set a new benchmark in tax collection and service delivery,” he said.
The Taxation Commissioner also batted for early recovery of pending arrears of taxes. He said that all the officers must embark on a major recovery drive for getting the arrears from the wilful defaulters.
Welcoming new ideas for tax reforms from the officers, the Taxation Commissioner said that new ‘out-of-the-box’ initiatives should be given for tax enhancement. “The Department will replicate such new and dynamic ideas by the officers at the state-level too,” he said, adding that the Department has already initiated the necessary action to weed out bogus firms in the state.
“Any such bogus firm, which tries to evade tax through illegal means, will be dealt with sternly. Every officer will be made accountable for the operation of any bogus firm in the area under their jurisdiction,” he said.
Dwelling on another issue, Yadav said that every officer will ensure that assessment cases are completed at the earliest. Officers should not wait for the end of the fiscal year and should rather complete it well before the deadline by studying them meticulously, he added.
Directing the officers to enhance their field visits, he said that this helps the Department in acquainting itself with ground realities on one hand and streamlining the affairs pertaining to taxation on the other. “Inspections are a must for every officer and orders of the department in this regard be adhered to,” he added.