WB service tax collection to miss target

Service tax collection in West Bengal is set to fall below target by as much as Rs 80 crore against Rs 630 crore targeted by the government.

Talking to reporters at the sidelines of a workshop on service tax organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Biswajit Dutta, commissioner of central excise, and head, service task force, said revenue collection was Rs 261 crore in the first half of the current fiscal.

It was unlikely that the department would manage to achieve its targeted tax collection figures, he added.

"We expect a total collection of Rs 550 crore by the end of the fiscal, against a target of Rs 630 crore," he admitted. Of the amount already collected, bulk of the revenue was from telecommunications service providers at Rs 259 crore.

Tax collected from the insurance sector stood at Rs 1.3 crore. Chartered accountants contributed around Rs 3.4 crore, while advertisement agencies shelled out another Rs 3 crore to the department.

Service tax collection from phone-fax booth service providers and the fashion designing segment were nil. Credit rating agencies contributed a paltry Rs 17,000 while the interior design segment chipped in with Rs 1.75 lakh.

Different franchisees and Internet cafes contribute around Rs 1.25 lakh and Rs 83,000 respectively.

To beef up tax collection, the department has initiated the process of mapping the city along with its suburbs. "The department has initiated the process of making a list of service providers in different areas in the city as well as its adjacent areas. The department has completed bulk of the job in Kolkata, where it has mapped almost every building housing service providers in the heart of the city. It has also initiated the process of mapping all providers along all major roads in the city," Datta explained.

"The process is expected to be completed by March this year," he added