Jammu and Kashmir has collected Rs 5,854 crore of sales tax in the current financial year till January, which is Rs 433 crore more than the last financial year, officials said. “During this financial year till January 2020, Rs 5,854 crore were realised against Rs 5,421 crore for the corresponding period during the financial year 2018-19,” Commissioner State Taxes, J&K, P K Bhat said. This is Rs 433 crore more than last financial year’s revenue realisation.

He revealed that the department’s collections on part of Motor Spirit Tax would exceed far more than its target with its collection peaking to more than 30 per cent in the month of February 2020 from the same month last year. Commissioner State Taxes revealed that the department is working tirelessly in a mission mode to achieve the target of about 20 per cent growth in revenue realisation from the last financial year. He informed the meeting that against the average monthly revenue realization of Rs 360.61 crore last year, this year the figure has raised to Rs 401.16 crore per month.

He said that the number of obligatory GSTR 3B filings by traders has been around 66,621 till February this year. Besides, the number of e-way bills generated up to January 2020 stands at 631,221 (Inwards) and 113,732 (outwards), taking the cumulative goods transaction to Rs 45,416 crore (Inwards) and Rs 20477 crore (outwards), he added. The department has around 98,098 registered tax filers and J&K has been distributed into 64 tax circles to facilitate them in every manner, he added.

In order to bolster the resource base of J&K, the Financial Commissioner Finance, Arun Kumar Mehta directed the State Taxes Department (STD) to fix target for revenue realisation for each circle. He also advised to scrutinize at least 1 percent of e-way bills generated every month to watch for any wrongdoing.

The Financial Commissioner asked the officers to publish the names of five-best and five-worst performers for each month so that neither of them goes unrecognized and the working of the department gets better. He maintained that it should be a regular feature and should get reflected in the Annual Performance Reports of these officials.

Mehta asked the officers to adopt a consultative approach while dealing with the tax filers. He underscored the need of creating awareness about the disadvantages of non-filing of returns among the traders. He asked for automation of entire reimbursement process within the shortest possible time.

The Financial Commissioner reiterated that the department should always strive for 100 per cent filing of returns and employ all sorts of innovative measures to achieve the goal. He asked the officers to personalize their business on the analogy of banking services so that each of the prospective filer feels at ease and facilitated wherever the need arises.