In a review meeting  held  with the chief commissioner  and  commissioners of income tax, custom and central excise  in Mumbai, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has  expressed satisfaction in the net corporate tax growth of 20.9 percent, personal income tax growth of 8.51 percent and an overall  growth of  15.75 percent in direct taxes  from Mumbai  as on July  2010.

He, however, added: “Direct tax collection from Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, is below the national average.   The achievement of direct tax collection should be monitored effectively and special efforts should be made to achieve not only the budgeted target but also to exceed it.”

“We expect the economy to grow at 8.5 percent during 2010-11 as against 7.4 percent in 2009-10,” he added.

“The sectors performing well need to be monitored to ensure due taxes to the government. We have increased the risk perception by using technology intensive tools. There is a need to create a formal risk management institution to handle this critical component of tax governance on a real-time basis.”

In a closed door meeting , the  FM sought concrete steps for realisation of Rs 28,046 crore blocked in appeals before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeal)  and  Rs 10,010 crore before the Income Tax  Appellate Tribunal.

The customs revenue collections in Mumbai have registered a growth of 79.5 percent and the central excise zones had an average increase of 55.65 percent.  The FM added that serious steps should be initiated to collect arrears on revenue amounting to Rs 3,088 crore with respect to central excise and Rs  1,740 crore with respect to customs duty.

With the domestic service sector on an upswing  the minister called for ways and means to increase service tax collections which have registered  collections at a mere 8 percent.

In comparison to the previous year, tax deduction at source registered a decline of 2 percent.  Mukherjee said the course of TDS collection should be studied to ensure the taxes due to the government are collected.
With reference to the Direct Tax Code, the finance minster said it will come into effect from 1st April 2012 and added that the interim period should be used for effecting a smooth transition.

Expressing concern on the mounting appeals in the departments, Mukherjee  said he had constituted a standing committee in both boards to identify a road map for reducing the existing litigation and avoiding future litigation. He called for a systematic bottom to top approach for effective litigation settlement. He added that an amount of approximately Rs 2,192 crore of central excise duty , Rs 1,931 crore of customs duty and approx Rs 3,800 crore of service tax was locked up in adjudication cases.