BENGALURU: Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs, Legislation, and Tourism HK Patil said on Friday that the state government will take steps to plug the leakage in GST collection. He was replying to queries related to GST collection in the Assembly.
Cutting across party lines, members gave suggestions to the government on ensuring better tax collection as well as plugging leakage in the system. The Assembly on Friday passed Karnataka Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill. The minister said that the government is planning to oversee audits and keep a strict vigil on e-commerce operators to improve GST collection.
The Bill provides for penal provisions applicable to e-commerce operators relating to supply of goods through them by unregistered persons or composition taxpayers.
Patil said the provisions in the Bill will help overcome challenges in GST collection, especially on intra-state supply of goods. The Bill has 22 amendments -- 16 for tax compliance and six for dealer-friendly initiatives.
Some senior leaders, including former CM Basavaraj Bommai (BJP), HD Revanna (JDS), Shivalinge Gowda (Congress) and former home minister Araga Jnanendra (BJP) suggested several measures to increase GST collection. They pointed out that many items are not under GST purview. All those items should be brought under the GST net.
Patil said in the last financial year, over 11,700 cases were inspected, where GST officials collected Rs 1,320 crore as penalty. They had launched a drive against bogus dealers and identified 1600 violations and nearly Rs 100 crore input tax credit was blocked.
Patil explained how tax collection increased after GST came into force. “In 2017-18, Rs 44,816 crore was collected and in 2022-23, it increased to Rs 81,848 crore. Karnataka recorded the highest GST collection in the first quarter of this year,” he said.