Record direct tax collections in AP

Indicating a spurt in state's economy, the direct tax collections in Andhra Pradesh registered about 42 per cent growth for the period ended December 2003, much higher than the all India average of 23 per cent.

This is also the highest growth in I-T collections for any year in the state.

Till December 2003, the IT department collected about Rs 2,521 crore as against Rs 1,770 crore for the corresponding period last year. Of this, the corporate tax showed an impressive growth of 59 per cent at Rs 1,179 crore.

The total direct tax collections are expected to touch Rs 4,000 crore by the end of the current financial year, as against the budgeted target of Rs 3,438 crore inclusive of Rs 1,386 crore corporate tax, according to PA Choudhary, the chief commissioner(1) of I-T department.

Addressing a press conference here today, Choudhary informed that in terms of growth, the AP region ranked second in the country with Bangalore region getting to the top with 45 per cent growth in terms of corporate and income tax collections. He said the huge growth in tax collections was mainly on account of positive change in the state economy.

Among the corporate tax payers in the state, going by the present advances, the State Bank of Hyderabad(SBH) is expected to pay Rs 270 crore, Andhra Bank Rs 200 crore, NMDC Rs 170, and Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) Rs117 crore.

There are about 12 tax payers in the Rs 10-50 crore tax bracket, while 52 tax payers are in the range of Rs1 crore to Rs 10 crore, and 32 tax payers below Rs 1 crore range.

Notwithstanding the second rank in terms of I-T collections, the state I-T wing is analysing the reasons behind the achievement of Karnataka region which recorded the highest growth in tax collections, Choudhary said.

He attributed the growth in income tax collections over the recent years to the expansion of tax base which had now touched 17.85 lakh assessees from 9.89 lakh in the year 2000-01.

The figure witnessed a sudden jump in 2001-02 over the previous year with 16.01 lakh registrations. One lakh fifty thousand assessees were added to the tax base in last two years, showing an overall growth rate of 87 per cent since the year 2000-01.

According to Choudhary, 16,70,976 assessees were allotted permanent account numbers (PAN) in the state.

The allotment of PAN was outsourced by the Government of India to UTI ISL with effect from July 2003. In salary cases, of the 1.87 lakh returns received, over 37,121 employees had filed for refund, and refunds were made to 31,490.

The number of tax returns in this segment is expected to come down by 40 per cent with the centre's recent decision to exempt the persons with Rs 1.50 lakh annual income from filing returns.