Rs 605 cr target for service tax collections from Gujarat

The union government has set a target of Rs 15,780 crore as sales tax collection for the current fiscal year. The target for service tax collection from Gujarat is Rs 605 crore, Director General of Service Tax, K P Singh said here yesterday.

Singh, who was here to oversee the implementation of service tax in Gujarat, said that, while the department will emphasise on voluntary compliance, it will act firmly in cases where there is deliberate evasion of service tax.

Of the target of Rs 15,780 crore, the Central Excise department, which is responsible for enforcing the service tax, has collected 3,438.67 crore till the end of July.

This is considerably high, as Rs 1,833.50 crore was collected in the same period last year. In fact, the department had collected Rs 7,890 crore as service tax in the past fiscal from across the country.

"The Directorate of Central Excise will also help to check service tax evasion. We have geared up our anti evasion machinery and, as far as willful defaulters are concerned, the department will act firmly with them although it will be a painful exercise," warned Singh.

Commenting on Gujarat, The DG, Service Tax, said several projects are coming up in Gujarat. "Department officials can, and will, walk into peoples' homes and offices and ask them what services they have availed of and thus get more people into the service tax net".

S C Mathur, chief commissioner, Central Excise, said that while a service tax target of Rs 331 crore had been set for the Ahmedabad zone for the 2003-04 fiscal, the collection was Rs 295 crore. "This year, we have already collected Rs 147 crore in the zone as of July end," Mathur said.

While 58 services have been included in the list of those services that attract service tax, the government has also increased the scope of 13 other services to make them more comprehensible.

Excise department officials here said that some services which could come under scrutiny this fiscal are business auxiliary services, chartered accountants, architects, security agencies, coaching classes and consultancy services.

Sounding a stern warning to defaulters, Singh said that officers of the department will carry out survey of service tax payers twice a week.

" We have our own information setup and can always seek the help of banking channels, Income Tax and other agencies to gather information. Ideally people should come forward and pay service tax, and they should realise that there is no permanent escape from the service tax net," Singh said.