HYDERABAD: Telangana state, which leads the southern states in tax collection over GSDP, has decided to study the other best practices being followed in northern states to improve their tax revenues.
A cabinet sub-committee headed by commercial taxes minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav held its first meeting at the Secretariat here on Friday on how to improve the tax revenues by plugging the loopholes and also enhance the tax structure.
The other members of the sub-committee are finance minister E Rajender and irrigation minister T Harish Rao.
It noted that the tax revenue in Telangana was 6.67 pc over the GSDP and it was the highest in all southern states. “The Gujarat state’s tax revenue is 9.1 pc over its GSDP. We have to improve the tax revenues by taking measures and controlling the zero business,” the sub-committee felt.
Erection of integrated check-posts too would help in improving the tax collections, it observed.
For this, Srinivasa Yadav, Rajender and Harish Rao will tour Maharashtra and Gujarat next week to study the functioning of integrated check-posts set up in those states. “The check-posts will arrest the evasion of tax at the entry level itself,” the sub-committee felt.
The commercial taxes department could reach only 93 pc of its target in the first five months. “Around Rs 700 to Rs 800 crore commercial tax revenue could not be realised as per the budget projections,” sources said.