Arrears of Service Tax have shot up: CAG

Manpower recruitment service, which was in third position in FY15, has become top Service Tax revenue paying service in FY16 followed by telecom

GN Bureau | March 20, 2017


#Service Tax   #GDP   #CAG  


Arrears of Service Tax, which was Rs 22,014 crore in 2012-13, tripled to Rs 71,257 crore in 2014-15. However, recovery during the year as a percentage of unrestrained recoverable arrears registered a steep fall from 42 percent during 2013-14 to 10 percent during 2014-15, said a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

The CAG report on revenue Service Tax said that the Service Tax collection was Rs 2,11,145 crore during financial year 2015-16 (FY16) and accounted for 29.77 percent of Indirect Tax revenue in FY16. Indirect tax collection have risen as a per cent of GDP in FY16 after registering a slight decline during the preceding two years. The share of Indirect Taxes in Gross Tax revenue increased in FY16 vis-à-vis FY15. Service Tax revenue as a percentage of GDP has been increasing every year during last five years, though it declined marginally during FY15.

Manpower recruitment service, which was in third position in FY15, has become top Service Tax revenue paying service in FY16 followed by telecommunication and general insurance premium services.

Adjudication cases involving Service Tax implication of over Rs 76,124 crore were pending finalisation as on March 31, 2016.
Success ratio of department’s appeal against adjudication order has decreased to 25.53 percent in FY16 from 32.69 percent in FY14.

The CAG report said that the ministry could not provide complete data related to detailed scrutiny of returns, Internal Audit and disposal of refund cases for FY16 and data furnished in respect of registered assessees and preliminary scrutiny of returns, did not tally with information furnished for last Audit Report No. 1 of 2016.

“In the last five audit reports (including current year’s report) we had included 810 audit paragraphs having financial implication of Rs 2,181.44 crore against which the ministry accepted 795 audit paragraphs having financial implication of Rs 1,866.26 crore and had recovered Rs 449.59 crore,” it said.

The report went on to say that in 23 commissionerates, no cases were transferred to Recovery Cell during the last three years, though there were arrears of Rs 16,857 crore at the beginning of 2014-15 in these commissionerates. This not only resulted into Recovery Cell being redundant but has also led to piling of arrears.

Read: CAG report - Department of Revenue (Indirect Taxes–Service Tax)
 

Comments

 

Other News

AI: Code, Control, Conquer

India today stands at a critical juncture in the area of artificial intelligence. While the country is among the fastest adopters of AI in the world, it remains heavily reliant on technologies developed elsewhere. This paradox, experts warn, cannot persist if India seeks technological sovereignty.

RBI pauses to assess inflation risks, policy transmission

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has begun the new fiscal year with a calibrated pause, keeping the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent in its April Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. The decision, taken unanimously, reflects a shift from aggressive policy action to cautious observation after a signi

New pathways for tourism growth

Traditionally, India’s tourism policy has been based on three main components: the number of visitors, building tourist attractions and providing facilities for tourists. Due to the increase in climate-related issues and environmental destruction that occurred over previous years, policymakers have b

Is the US a superpower anymore?

On April 8, hours after warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight,” US president Donald Trump, exhibiting his unique style of retreating from high-voltage brinkmanship, announced that he agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. The weekend talks in Islamabad have failed and the futur

Machines communicate, humans connect

There is a moment every event professional knows—the kind that arrives without warning, usually an hour before the curtain rises. Months of meticulous planning are in place. And then comes the call: “We’ll also need a projector. For the slides.”   No email

Why India is entering a ‘stagflation lite’ phase

India’s macroeconomic narrative is quietly shifting—from a rare “Goldilocks” equilibrium of stable growth and contained inflation to a more fragile phase where external shocks are beginning to dominate domestic policy outcomes. The numbers still look reassuring at first glance: GDP


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter