To curb evasion of goods and services tax (GST), the state government will launch an enforcement drive for which task forces will be set up in each district.
The task force will first identify and gather relevant information about the tax evaders and this will be followed by raids by the tax authorities at the premises of the evaders.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued this direction after a presentation on taxation was made by the Commercial Tax department before him on Wednesday. The chief minister said that revenue from the GST and value-added tax (VAT) was steadily increasing and during the last fiscal 2021-22, the total revenue from GST and compensation was Rs 98,107 crore.
The chief minister said efforts should be made in a mission mode for increasing the annual collection from GST to Rs 1.50 lakh crore. He said the record GST collection in the first quarter of the current fiscal validated the efforts so far made for increasing revenue collection.
For increasing tax collection from GST, the chief minister said, “Since GST is an online taxation system, a huge database is available with the tax authorities and this data should be analysed using the information technology (IT) tools or data analytics. He said the tools of artificial intelligence should also be used for increasing tax collection.
Yogi Adityanath said since the revenue generation from GST was based on consumption and revenue collection was linked to gross state domestic product, planned efforts were needed for increasing the consumption of goods in UP.
He said a congenial environment prevailed in UP for increasing tax collection and with the efforts made by the tax department the number of traders registered with GST had increased to 17.44 lakh -- the highest in the country. The chief minister said efforts should be made for increasing this number to 30 lakh in next one year.
The chief minister also asked the officials about the details of deduction of TDS from the payments made to contractors by the government agencies and said it should be deposited as per the provisions of GSTR 7.
To curb tax evasion, the chief minister asked the tax authorities to keep an eye on the e-way bills generated by traders and high value bills generated by those newly registered with the GST. He said the turnover of the non-filers of GST return should be examined and it should be ensured that they paid the outstanding tax.
He said tax as per rules should also be realised from coaching institutes, banquet halls, shopping malls who hired big commercial buildings. The chief minister pressed the need for direct communication with the field level officers and said he would himself speak to the field level officers every fortnight.
The chief minister expressed concern over the frequent short weighing and adulteration by petrol dispensing centres or petrol pumps, He said surprise raids should be conducted at such establishments and if needed the assistance of the police and special task force should also be taken.
