Wednesday September 26, 02:04 AM
Kerala to e-link major tax points to increase VAT collection
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By Economy Bureau
Cash-starved Kerala government has embarked on a major initiative to e-link all major tax points to increase VAT collection in the state. The state government expects to increase the VAT revenue by 50% by making the tax administration transparent, simple and fast, state finance minister Thomas Isaac told reporters. "All the sales tax check points and offices will be linked by WAN and the processes will be made simple and fast," Isaac said. This is a follow up of the effort made by Isaac to make the border posts like Walayar corruption free by streamlining the procedures and computerising the process. The entire tax administration will be linked online within a month, he said. The data from the 86 border checkpoints will be available at any office and can be crosschecked with the sales tax returns for discrepancies, he said. "Almost 90 % of the commodities traded or used in Kerala come from outside the state, so the data from the border points is a good indicator of the sales," he said. The e- filing of data makes the administration effortless and gives more time for efficient scrutiny, feels the finance minister. Isaac points that the additional collection made by the tax administration for the last fiscal through scrutiny was less than 0.1%. Isaac has plans to equip the personnel at the border points with hand held computers to reduce the time taken for the effort. He believes that the economic cost of the time wasted at the tax points can be a big saver for the traders. "Things will be easy and simple for traders and the goodwill will result in better compliance," he said. VAT revenue has increased by 52 % in the state from Rs 2,950 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 4,500 crore in 2006-07.
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