I-T collection in Odisha jumps by 18%

Income Tax collection in Odisha has registered 18 per cent growth in 2012-13 with mines operator Indrani Patnaik emerging as top individual tax payer in the State.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Chief Income Tax Commissioner of Odisha Region, Santosh Kumar Srivastava, said, “the growth in net IT collection has been spectacular. The net tax collection (tax collection after refund) in Odisha region for the year 2012-13 is estimated at Rs. 8,643.7 crore. Last fiscal (2011-12) it was 7,337.5 crore.”

Srivastav said Indrani Patnaik paid an advance tax of Rs 185 crore to lead the list of individual tax payers replacing K S Ahluwalia who topped the list a year before.

Ahluwalia paid Rs 76 crore in the financial year that ended on March 31, far less compared to Rs 149 crore that he had paid in 2011-12. Patnaik had paid Rs 60 crore in 2011-12, registering a sharp rise this time.

Among the corporates, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) paid the highest tax (advance) of Rs 1,900 crore, Rs 100 crore more compared to the previous year.

Individuals and industries associated with mining industry and real estate sector had contributed lion’s share in the Odisha burgeoning tax collection, Mr. Srivastava said, admitting that there was ample scope to expand tax base in the State.

Odisha has total 6.86 lakh taxpayers, 1.5% of the total population, compared to over 3.5% at the national level. There is no significant rise in the total number of taxpayers compared to last year, Srivastav said.