Odisha’s tax and non-tax revenue increased in 2017-18: CAG

Bhubaneswar: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) found the Odisha government lost Rs 795.18 crore revenue for the year ended March 31, 2018.

In its report presented in the State Assembly, the CAG mentioned that test check of records of tax and non-tax receipts revealed under assessment/ short levy/ loss of revenue and other observations amounting to Rs 795.18 crore in 59,387 cases in the year.

The report further stated during the year 2017-18, as many as 1,401 assessment files, returns, refund registers and other relevant records involving tax effect of Rs 2,004.18 crore relating to Commercial Tax wing of the Finance Department were not made available to audit for scrutiny.

Meanwhile, the percentage of tax and non-tax revenue raised by the State Government to the total revenue of the State increased from 41.58 per cent in 2016-17 to 42.60 per cent in 2017-18.

The State’s performance in mobilisation of resources was assessed in terms of tax revenue and non-tax revenue. However, the State’s share in central taxes and Grants-in-Aid which is based on the recommendations of the Finance Commission have not included in the report.

It mentioned that misclassification of goods resulted in short levy of tax and penalty worth Rs 64.07 lakh. Improper scrutiny of return by Assessing Authorities for delayed payment of tax led to non-levy of interest and penalty of Rs 73.73 lakh.

The CAG pointed out that no action was initiated for levy of penalty of Rs 5.01 crore against the dealers who had not submitted the Certified Annual Audited Accounts (CAAA).

The tax amount under the CST Act and OVAT Act were not correlated to work out the tax which resulted in short levy of tax and penalty of Rs 28.38 lakh.

Minor minerals were not assessed for Entry Tax which resulted in non-levy of tax and penalty worth Rs 56.52 lakh, the CAG report stated.

“The Department did not analyse case-wise reasons in respect of 41,159 dealers who did not migrate to GST. Audit could not derive an assurance that all dealers due for registration under GST were actually registered. In eight Circles, 339 taxpayers filed transitional Input Tax Credit claims amounting to Rs 42.24 crore. Out of this, 251 cases involving Rs 39.71 crore were verified and 88 cases (26 per cent) remained unverified in all the circles,” the CAG said.