KOLKATA: West Bengal government has decided to retain tax policy in 2015-16 budget and major target of budget on rural development.
Finance Minister, Amit Mitra, proposed while presenting the Budget for FY16, the distribution of 40 lakh cycles amongst students in two years and enhancement of scholarship under ‘Kanyashri’ scheme from ₹500 to ₹750, providing financial assistance of ₹10,000 to small and marginal farmers and social security for transport workers, among others.
The Budget has proposed new tax reforms that include increasing the threshold level of VAT (from ₹5, 00,000 to ₹10, and 00,000); VAT amnesty scheme for dealers who are still outside its ambit; and VAT relief to MSMEs.
Also included is the extension of the scope of pre-assessment refund, easy professional tax registration, and the extension of input tax credit on duty credit scrips to manufacturers.
A stamp duty relief on property registration (by increasing its threshold limit for payment of additional stamp duty) has also been proposed.
“We have not imposed any new tax. Increasing the ambit has helped increase tax collections,” Mitra told reporters during a press conference.
Interestingly though, the State is expected to fall short of its own tax revenue collection targets. Tax collections grew by approximately 12 per cent, against a projected 30 per cent.
As a result, Mitra has revised the “tax collection” estimates to ₹40,062 crore for the current fiscal; as against the budgeted ₹45,413 crore.
The decline in State’s own tax revenues came following a drop in collections in all major categories like sales tax, State excise, stamps and registration fees and entry tax collections. Entry tax imposition is sub-judice.
The budgeted estimate (of own-tax) for FY16 has been pegged at ₹46,500 crore, a 16 per cent increase (around ₹6,500 crore) over current collections.
Incidentally, the State’s revenue deficit would have been higher had it not seen a jump in its share of Union taxes and duties; and grants-in-aid from the Centre.
