Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, T.K. Sreedevi, Joint Commissioner Samyuktha Rani with FTCCI leaders at an awareness programme on GST in Hyderabad on Friday.
Better monitoring has helped improve Goods and Services Tax (GST) compliance in the State from 68% to 82% over the past six months, a senior officer from the Commercial Taxes Department told members of a frontline trade and industry body here on Friday.
The plan is to ensure 90% tax compliance by this month, Commissioner, Commercial Taxes Department, T.K. Sreedevi said, underscoring the importance of trade and industry to partner with the government in enhancing revenue collection by voluntarily remitting taxes.
The officer was addressing an awareness programme on GST registration and benefits for small traders and manufacturers organised by the Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI) in association with the department.
Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes Samyuktha Rani told the gathering that the department is conducting a 10-day GST registration drive. Anybody who has a turnover threshold of ₹20 lakh and businesses involved in inter-state supplies must register, she said.
Sharing some of the findings of the department, Ms. Rani said 23,374 taxpayers remain under the composition scheme for more than three years. A total of 19,277 taxpayers have not filed returns from the date of registration.
Also, many organisations, who had cancelled their registration earlier, continue to do business. Many companies or individuals continue to do business under the erstwhile VAT registrations. Hoteliers and restaurants doing business through food delivery firms have suddenly cancelled registrations despite having offline supplies.
The department has found non-compliance rate high among accommodation services and lease rentals, she said.
FTCCI president Ashok Kumar Singhal said the federation intended to submit a set of recommendations of GST as well as direct taxes to the government. Chairman of GST and Customs Committee of FTCCI Irshad Ahmed appealed for turnover threshold limit of GST registration in Telangana to be increased to ₹40 lakh like in many States.
