THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Commercial Taxes Department has unearthed major irregularities in the raids conducted at textile and household items shops. The raids by the intelligence wing of the department found unaccounted sales turnover of around Rs 17 crore. The tax arrears on these unaccounted sales would come to around Rs 2 crore.
In Thiruvananthapuram district alone, unaccounted sales to the tune of Rs 1.14 crore were found during raids in two textile shops. Also, another unaccounted sale of Rs 36 lakh was found from a household items’ shop. The tax arrears from these would come to around Rs 4 lakh.
Similarly, in Kollam district, the raids unearthed unaccounted sales of Rs 98 lakh. The raids at a textile showroom in Alappuzha found unaccounted sales of Rs 1.28 crore. Inspections inSother shops found irregularities to the tune of Rs 3.10 crore.
In Kottayam district, unaccounted sales of Rs 2.8 crore were unearthed. The tax arrears here would come to around Rs 7.2 lakh. Irregularities worth Rs 59 lakh were found during raids in Pathanamthitta. In Idukki, unaccounted sales of Rs 1.87 crore were found where tax arrears would come to more than Rs 5 lakh. Raids were conducted in 19 shops, including 12 textile shops in Ernakulam, which identified irregularities of Rs 2.7 crore, which could attract tax arrears of Rs 19 lakh.
Unaccounted sales of more than Rs 1 crore were found from shops in Thrissur where the tax arrears would come to around Rs 19 lakh. Irregularities worth Rs 1.20 crore were found from Palakkad, Rs 66.50 lakh from Malappuram, Rs 67 lakh from Kozhikode, Rs 40 lakh from Wayanad, Rs 33 lakh from Kannur and Rs 34 lakh from Kasargod. In view of the raids, the intelligence wing of the Commercial Taxes Department has increased inspections across the state.
Onam Drive to Nab Tax Evaders
In another initiative, the Commercial Taxes Department has launched social media channels to ensure public participation in tax administration. The attempt is to ensure that bills are given compulsory and these bills can be shared with the Commercial Taxes Department.
FB Page Launch
In a first-of-its-kind attempt, the department has also launched a facebook page facebook.com/postbillshere for people to share their shopping bills. The public can also mail bills to postbills@keralataxes.gov.in. The department has set up a team for the scrutiny of the bills collected which will help identify defaulters and those issuing fake bills to customers.
The department is also planning advertisement campaigns through newspapers and radio, in addition to open campaigns at railway stations, bus terminals and during the Tourism Week celebrations.
MOney Trail
District Unaccounted Money (approx)
T’Puram Rs 1.50 cr
Kollam Rs 98 lakh
Alappuzha Rs 4.38 cr
Kottayam Rs 2.87 cr
P’Thitta Rs 59 lakh
Idukki Rs 1.92 cr
Ernakulam Rs 2.7 cr
Idukki Rs 1 cr
Palakkad Rs 1.2 cr
Malappuram Rs 66.5 lakh
Kozhikode Rs 67 lakh
Wayanad Rs 40 lakh
Kannur Rs 33 lakh
Kasargod Rs 34 lakh