MAPUSA
Warning tough action against defaulting taxpayers, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday said those evading taxes should later not approach politicians when confronted by the enforcement authorities.
He also said the State was staring at a major revenue loss due to the second wave of Covid-19 but despite the setback, the government has managed to provide several reliefs to taxpayers.
“Many feel that they can hoodwink the government and get away without paying taxes. This won’t happen anymore. We have officers who have been using new techniques to trap those who evade taxes,” Sawant warned.
The Chief Minister was addressing a gathering after inaugurating the new ‘Goa Rajya Kar Bhavan’ building that will house the office of Commissioner of Sales Tax. The offices of GST and Excise will also be shifted in the building later.
Continuing, Sawant said the enforcement section conducts inspection raids to trap those taxpayers who evade taxes.
“In many cases those who are trapped beg for time to make payment later. Then there are some who have the habit of approaching politicians. I request everyone not to bring any political pressure. This will not work,” he said.
He further said that the economic intelligence and the enforcement unit of the tax departments have been working efficiently and therefore there was a sense of fear among the taxpayers.
He warned that nobody should attempt to trick the government while making GST payment and force the State to take punitive action.
The CM informed that revenue collection went up to Rs 4000 crore in 2021. He also said the number of taxpayers shot up to 43,000 from 28,000 registered with the departments in 2016.
“We are aware that there are many who are still not paying their taxes. They should register with the GST to pay their tax as soon as possible. They should pay minimum tax instead of forcing us to take action,” he said.
The chief minister informed the State was facing more than 50 percent loss in revenue due to the impact of the second wave on revenue generation. “In the last pandemic, the revenue collection dropped to 10 percent. In spite of that, we cleared bills totaling Rs 500 crore in the last one year without exerting any financial burden on the state kitty. This is an achievement for the State,” he said.
He said in spite of facing a loss, the government has made efforts to provide relief to industries in many ways.
“We have extended the last date for filing of the VAT returns, decreased the late fees in payment of interest and penalty for late filing and extended the existing licence if expired during the lockdown period,” he said, adding wherever possible relief was provided to GST payers too.
Panaji Mayor, Rohit Monserrate, Chief Secretary, Parimal Rai, Principal Secretary Finance, Puneet Kumar Goyal and Commissioner of State Tax, Hemant Kumar were also present for the function.
