Income tax collection in NE up by 18%: Centre

NE has around 7.38 lakh taxpayers, but about 1.2 crore people in the seven northeastern States are exempted from the tax net as per Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act. As per Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, a member of a Scheduled Tribe residing in any area specified in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution or in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura is exempted from paying tax on any income that accrues from any source in the area or State...

GUWAHATI, June 3: The Income Tax department has collected Rs 7,097 crore as direct tax from the Northeast in 2017-18, which is an increase of 18 per cent from the previous financial year.

“The net tax collection is Rs 7,097 crore from the Northeast in 2017-18. This is a growth of 18.3 per cent over the previous year,” Union Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla told reporters here on Sunday.

Shukla, who was in the city to review the performances of the IT department, banks and insurance institutions in the implementation of various schemes of the Prime Minister, said the Income Tax Department has brought 1.89 lakh more people under the ambit of tax net in the Northeast during the last financial year.

“With this, the total number of taxpayers in the Northeast currently stands at around 7.38 lakh,” Shukla said. The figures, however, do not include Sikkim.

The Union Minister also informed the media that about 1.2 crore people in the seven northeastern States are exempted from the tax net as per section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act. As per section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, a member of a Scheduled Tribe residing in any area specified in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution or in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura is exempted from paying tax on any income that accrues from any source in the area or State.

“We even cannot force them to file IT Returns. So, we have limitations in increasing the tax-payable persons in the NE region. However, we are progressing well,” Shukla said.

“We need to develop e-connectivity further in the Northeast. There are lapses in connectivity, which is affecting online return filing. This is our priority. We cannot give a timeline, but we will address it soon,” the minister said.