UP govt targetting to expand state GST pool from 1.4 mn to 5 mn traders

The Uttar Pradesh government is targetting to expand the state Goods and Services Tax (GST) pool from the current 1.4 million traders to 5 million.

The tax department officials have been directed to prepare an action plan to increase the number of registered traders under GST from 1.4 million to 5 million.

Reviewing the progress of tax and non-tax revenue here today, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said UP was a consumer state and there was a huge potential to augment GST and Value Added Tax (VAT) kitty.

He asked officials to take the traders into confidence and apprise them of the benefits, including the insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh, accruing to them if they registered under the GST system. He instructed officials to streamline and speed up tax collection so as to improve the revenue purse.

Besides, the senior departmental heads have been mandated to hold tax collection review meetings at all the 18 divisions and to utilise the services of the state helicopter if needed.

Meanwhile, the state government had collected more than Rs 80,000 crore in taxes during the first eight months (Apr-Nov) of the current financial year 2019-20. However, tax collection was only 58 per cent of the targetted tax purse of over Rs 1.40 trillion during the fiscal year.

Recently, UP finance minister Suresh Kumar Khanna had pulled up officials for muted tax collection. He had instructed officials of the GST, VAT, excise, stamp and registration, land revenue and energy departments to accelerate enforcement activities and put an effective control on tax evasion in the state to plug revenue leakages.

He even set the target of Rs 1 trillion in GST revenue in the next 2020-21 fiscal year compared to Rs 77,640 crore in the current 2019-20 cycle.

So far, the state has collected Rs 4,632 crore or about 15 per cent of the targetted non-tax revenue of Rs 30,632 crore during the first six months (Apr-Sep 2019) of the current financial year.

According to the 2nd UP Supplementary Budget 2019-20 documents, the state is estimated to receive nearly Rs 1.53 trillion from the Centre as its annual share in central tax collection. However, during Apr-Sep 2019 period, UP has only received about Rs 55,900 crore or 37 per cent of its share.

Besides, the state has received Rs 13,500 crore or less than 20 per cent of the promised central grants till September 2019.

In 2019-20, UP is targetting total tax mop-up, including commercial tax, of Rs 1.4 trillion, 4.4% more than the revised budgetary estimates of Rs 1.34 trillion during 2018-19 financial year.

In 2019-20, the state government has projected total revenue kitty of Rs 3.91 trillion, including tax and non-tax revenue, both emanating from state and its share from tax and non-tax revenue of the Centre, apart from the central grants.

Of the total tax revenue of about Rs 2.93 trillion, Rs 1.4 trillion would accrue from own resources, while Rs 1.53 trillion would come as the state’s share in the central taxes.