BENGALURU: As Karnataka has collected a whopping 60 per cent more GST as compared to the same period last year, Commercial Tax Commissioner C Shikha and her team are jubilant. The department has collected Rs 9,232 crore for May, making Karnataka second only to Maharashtra among big states in GST collection for the entire year.
Karnataka has collected Rs 3,500 crore more as compared to the same period last year. Shikha said, “We took up revenue augmentation measures clinically.First, the department ordered delegation and decentralisation of powers under the KGST Act to officers at all levels that led to effective revenue mobilisation. Second, we redeployed officers to new and emerging commercial areas ensuring optimum collection. Non-filers were identified and categorised into top, middle and low, based on their previous turnovers. Later, action was initiated to ensure filing of returns.’’
She said, “A system-based analytics was done clinically to identify cases for scrutiny and notices were issued if there were any discrepancies. IT analytical tools under GST Prime were used to detect such discrepancies. Intelligence from various states, e-waybill analytics and BIFA (Business Intelligence and Fraud Analytics) were used to identify bogus taxpayers and the department initiated action to prevent creation of a cartel of fake ITC claims, which would lead to substantial loss of revenue through outflow of credit.’’
She said awareness is important and many businessmen have little time to update themselves. “To address this, a series of 20 informative short movies were made and launched to simplify understanding of GST in Kannada.’’ She said, “I assume that because of these measures, the Commercial Tax Department could surpass the collection milestone of Rs 1 lakh crore for the first time. This means total collection under GST (with compensation), KST and professional tax in 2021-22 is Rs 1,02,008 crore which is Rs 20,000 crore more than the previous year. This increase is also because of better tax compliance by taxpayers.”She credited her team with working hard even during Covid. She thanked ACS, Finance, ISN Prasad and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is also the finance minister.