Gogoi sets tax targets, departments fall flat

Fince department dismayed as all departments fall short, allegations rife of corrupt officials pocketing parts of tax collected

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Dec 15: Despite frequent exhortations by the Assam government, tax collection in the State has been consistently unsatisfactory. Following the dismal collection of tax by various departments, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi specifically instructed the Fince department to set targets for each department concerned. However, in a recent review meeting of the Fince department, it has come to light that all the concerned departments have failed to achieve their targets.

There have been serious allegations against various departments involved in tax collection that a section of officials engage in corrupt practices like not furnishing receipts against fines collected and not issuing challans, thereby pocketing the money directly instead of sending it the treasury.

To improve tax collection, the Chief Minister directed targets to be set for each department in the current fincial year 2015-16 and instructed the Fince department to review the performances at regular intervals. But despite having clear instructions from the CM himself, the departments have miserably failed to achieve their targets.

After this came to light in a review meeting held recently, the Fince department raised serious concerns. A source in the Fince department has revealed that the matter will soon be brought to the notice of the Chief Secretary.

However, the question remains as to what is the reason behind this huge shortfall between departmental target and actual collection of tax? Are the allegations of officials of concerned departments being involved in corrupt practices and defrauding the State exchequer true?