In 4 months of FY 2023-24, Punjab witnesses 16.5% increase in GST and 20.87% in Excise collection: Cheema

Chandigarh: Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise and Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday said that the state has registered an increase of 16.5 per cent and 20.87 per cent in revenue from Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Excise respectively during the first four months of the financial year 2023-24.

Disclosing this in a press statement issued here, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that the state had received revenue of Rs 5846.31 crore from GST, Rs 2772.08 crore from Excise, Rs 2286.32 crore from Value Added Tax (VAT), Rs 80.84 crores from Central Sales Tax (CST) and Rs 51.62 crores from Punjab State Development Tax (PSDT) during first four months of fiscal year 2022-23. He said that total revenue of Rs 11037.17 crore was collected from these sources till the end of July 2022.

Giving credit to the improved performance of Excise and Taxation department, Cheema said that the department has reflected consistent improvement with the collection of Rs 6810.76 crore from GST, Rs 3033.78 crore from Excise, Rs 2348.55 crore from VAT, Rs 76.91 crore from CST and Rs 52.71 crores from PSDT during the first four months of this financial year. He said that so far a total of Rs 12322.71 crore has been received from the above said resources, which is 11.65 percent more as compared to the revenue collected from these during the same period in 2022-23.

Referring to Tax Intelligence Unit (TIU) and other technical and administrative reforms, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that while GST has recorded a total increase of 16.5 per cent during the current financial year, and there has been an increase of 36.07 percent in the revenue received from GST during the month of July this year as compared to July 2022. “The tax department is making significant strides towards better use of technology to facilitate honest taxpayers and crack down on tax evaders”, said the Finance Minister while adding that putting forward another step in the same direction, a new mobile app will also be released soon under the ‘Bill Liao, Inam Pao’ scheme.

The Finance Minister said that the previous government remained dependent on GST compensation only and did not take required steps to increase its revenue. He said that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab government is making all possible efforts to make the state economically self-reliant so as to ensure the bright future of the state.