I-T dept may fall short on arrears mop-up

The income-tax department is unlikely to achieve its internal arrears collection target of Rs 10,000 crore this fiscal. Data for April-September indicates that it has managed to mop up only Rs 3,300 crore by way of arrears recovery, just one-third of the target.

The total cumulative arrears up to September 30, 2005, were Rs 90,000 crore, marginally lower than the Rs 98,606-crore arrears demand in April 2005. According to officials, of the total cumulative arrears, Rs 85,000 crore is difficult to recover. Also, Rs 68,000 crore of arrears are locked in dispute.

"We managed to recover a healthy sum last year by focusing on clearing cases where the demand had been stayed. However, this year the recovery is a bit slow," admitted an official.

According to data available with the finance ministry, the income-tax department had managed to mop up Rs 3,500 crore by way of arrears collection during April-September last year against an internal target of Rs 7,000 crore for 2004-05.

Arrears collection for each region this fiscal has been fixed after taking into consideration the actual collection last year. The target for each region has been fixed so to ensure that it is not less than 100 per cent or more than 200 per cent of the actual collection last year.

The strategy for arrears recovery in the current fiscal includes identification of high-demand cases pending before commissioners (appeals), identification of worthwhile cases where recovery of arrears can be made during the course of the year and surveys and secret enquiries done by investigation wings to aid the recovery process.

Further, the CBDT department has also been asked to monitor the progress of hearings in high-demand cases before the income-tax appellate tribunal, and ensure that department representatives do not seek adjournments in such cases without prior approval of the respective chief commissioners.

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MILES TO GO

Rs 3,300 crore as arrears has been recoverd, just one-third of the target

Rs 3,500 crore mopped up during April-September last year against an internal target of Rs 7,000 crore for 2004-05

Rs 68,000 crore of arrears locked in dispute

Total cumulative arrears up to September 30 were Rs 90,000 crore, lower than the Rs 98,606-crore arrears demand in April 2005

Arrears collection for each region has been fixed based on the actual collection last year