Stating that tax collection in the State has been satisfactory despite COVID-19 pandemic, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Monday said he was hopeful of the collection increasing once the restrictions are lifted.
His statement came after his review meeting on tax collection with the Commercial Tax and Excise officials here. The Chief Minister also said that with the GST compensation period coming to an end in 2022, he would write to the Centre, appealing to extend the compensation period.
During the review, the department officials stated that during April and May, commercial tax collection with ₹11,409 crore had reached 14.2% of the total target for the year. The officials informed the Chief Minister that Karnataka was in the second position in GST collection as well as State GST collection.
In 2020-2021, despite the pandemic-related first lockdown and post lockdown period, Karnataka collected a total tax of ₹82,462 crore against the target of ₹82,443 crore. This included ₹65,659 crore from GST sources, ₹15,861 crore from Karnataka sales tax, and ₹942 crore from professional tax.
During the review of the Excise Department, the officials informed Mr. Yediyurappa that ₹4,284 crore excise duty was collected for April and May against the annual target of ₹24,580 crore. The officials said the growth rate in excise duty collection over the corresponding period of the previous year was at the rate of 8.1%.
