P. Chidambaram stern message to indirect tax evaders
Posted on: 24/Jul/2013 12:14:06 PM
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said that the government will achieve the revenue collection target this fiscal, warning that the revenue department will target 12 lakh service tax assesses who have stopped filing returns. The government has budgeted a gross tax target of Rs 12.36 lakhcrore in 2013-14 based on the assumption that economy will grow 6.5 per cent this year.
Chidambaram said he has impressed upon chief commissioners to keep in close touch with the 100 top excise tax assesses and treat them as clients as they account for over 80 per cent of the collection. The government fixed the target of indirect tax collection, comprising customs, excise and service tax, at Rs 5.65 lakh crore for 2013-14. In the previous fiscal the government had collected Rs 4.73 lakh crore as indirect taxes.
The finance minister said that assesses are also taking time to adjust to the format of negative list of service tax which was introduced last year. "Given these problems it is not surprising that non- filers and stop filers have mounted in service tax. The number exceeds 12 lakh or so. We are targeting them," he added.
Referring to the one-time voluntary compliance scheme for service tax, Chidambaram said that the Department will advertise it in a big was to encourage assesses to take advantage of the scheme. The scheme, he added, "gives an opportunity to assesses to come clean and pay arrears of service tax without interest and without penalty and then pay (taxes) regularly thereafter".
