| According to top officials of the Income Tax department, the collection of tax from Gujarat for the period of April to October, 2004 has gone up by 36 per cent, to Rs 2,296 crore, compared with the same period last year. Of this amount, Rs 1,077 crore has been collected as corporate tax, while Rs 1,219 crore has been collected as income tax. |
| Income tax collection for the period April to October this year stood at Rs 1,219 crore, up 22 per cent from Rs 994 crore for the same period last year. However, corporate tax collection showed impressive gains with Rs 1,077 crore collected during the same period compared with Rs 690 crore collected last year. The increase was 50 per cent. |
| "There are basically two reasons for this substantial rise in income tax payment," explains Kaushik Shah, chairman, direct taxes committee of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), the apex body of trade and commerce in Gujarat. |
| "The first reason is earnings have shot up and the economy as a whole is also on an upward trend. Secondly, with the IT department adopting a more humane and friendly approach, people are more willing to pay," feels Shah. The GCCI tax committee chairman added that this change of approach is more evident in the recent past. |
| Chartered accountant Naresh Shah says that with the government having made a PAN card mandatory for filing of returns, more and more people are ending up paying taxes. |
| "It is essential to get the Permanent Account Number Card," opines Shah, who said that even in case of legal proceedings, a PAN card is essential. |
| "Another reason for the rise in IT payments is neither people nor companies, want to land up in any legal complications." says Shreyas Choksi, an Ahmedabad based tax consultant. The income tax department is keeping a watch on companies and it is also an issue of reputation for corporates, he adds. |
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