BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday set a monthly target for commercial taxes officials and wanted them to collect Rs 10, 200 crore per month for the five months in order to meet target set of Rs 1, 10, 000 set by the State Government for financial year 2024-25.
Holding a review meeting of commercial tax officials in Bengaluru, the Chief Minister stressed the tax collection target must not fall under any circumstances and stated “Achieving the set target is essential for the development of the State.”
The commercial tax collection, he said, has been 53.5 percent which is an increase by Rs 5, 957 crore when compared with the commercial tax collection of previous year.
As of October, commercial tax collection of the State has been Rs 58, 773 crore. Of the tax collected, Rs 44, 783 crore is of GST, Rs 13, 193 crore for Karnataka Sales Tax and Professional tax has been Rs 797 crore.
The Chief Minister hoped the Kar Samadhana scheme would bring an additional; Rs 2,000 crore for the State Government and told the officials that he will hold monthly review meetings and any official not meeting the set target will be held accountable.
Regarding the Excise department’s tax collection, the Chief Minister said the set target for the Excise department is 38, 525 crore and till date, the department collected Rs 20, 237 crore thereby achieving a target of 52.53 percent.
Siddaramaiah directed officials concerned to initiate strict measures to stop illegal liquor being smuggled from Goa and warned the officials of stern action over complaints of corruption, if any, within the department.
The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary L.K. Atheeq, Commercial Tax Commissioner C.A. Shikha among other senior officials.
