The Mumbai IT department will intensify search operations in the coming weeks. IT, Infrastructure and FMCG sectors are likely to be on the radar for under reporting of accounts.
IT Department is set to complete its assessment of top corporate houses by December end.
It has so far found under reporting of Rs 50 crore in its search at Sunteck Realty and Rs 150 crore at Mandhana Industries.
Income Tax is one of the main income of the government, which has a severe shortage of resources. The Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had recently asked taxmen of Mumbai region to pull up their socks to achieve collection target. Mumbai region accounts for one-third of the total collection of direct taxes.
It has been targeting a 33 per cent increase in income tax collections at Rs 2,04,000 crore for the financial year, but has achieved a meager 4 per cent jump in advance tax collections. In the direct tax segment, advance tax contributes the most.
Overall, the IT Department hopes to recover around Rs 1,500 - 2,000 crore against tax arrears for Q3 in FY'12.
Finance Secretary R S Gujral had said that present times are "very critical" as a "steep decline" in GDP growth is resulting in a dip in the levy collections.
He said companies in the banking, finance and insurance sector, which account for half of the collections in the Mumbai region, are facing difficult time and the region will have to depend on sectors like software, pharma, FMCG and infrastructure, which are showing healthy increase, to achieve the target.
As an alternative, Mukherjee had asked the IT authorities to explore other possibilities like recovery in cases of tax defaulters and suggested adoption of some realistic steps to achieve targets in a time-bound manner.
The likely slowdown in economic growth to about 7 per cent from the 9 per cent projected in Budget could severely impact the revenue collection target. The government expects to collect Rs 7,89,000 crore in revenue this fiscal.
(With inputs from PTI)
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