Haryana tops in direct tax collections in NWR

Haryana has proved to be a money spinner for the Central government as the state has made the maximum direct tax mop-up in North-West Region at Rs 5,215.31 crore for 2007-08, while combined collection by Punjab, J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh is Rs 4,528.65 crore.

The overall direct tax collections in the NWR region grew by 39 per cent to Rs 9,743.96 crore in 2007-08 against Rs 7,007.74 crore in 2006-07, as per the official sources in the Income-Tax Department.

Haryana posted a whopping 65 per cent growth in direct tax collections in 2007-08 which is way ahead of the national average growth of 38 per cent and 18 per cent combined growth registered by Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

Haryana commanded 54 per cent share in the overall tax collections of NWR region.

The growth in Haryana's direct tax collections has been mainly fueled by massive increase in corporate tax collections which has grown by 87 per cent at Rs 2,532.60 crore in 2007-08, against collections of Rs 1,358.10 crore in 2006-07, revealed a senior income tax official.

However, the dismal position of the industry in other states of NWR region such as Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh could be discerned from the fact that the corporate tax collections in these state rose by just 10 per cent to Rs 1,475.96 crore in 2007-08.

The income tax collections from Haryana have also jumped by 48 per cent to Rs 2,682.70 crore in 2007-08 while the rest of states in NWR region managed to collect just Rs 2,602.73 crore with a growth rate of 25 per cent.