Chandigarh has highest tax assessee percentage in NW region

Chandigarh, April 5

Chandigarh has the highest ratio of income tax assessees to total population at 36.46 per cent while Jammu & Kashmir has the lowest at 1.56 per cent in the north-west (NW) region.

Besides, Haryana contributes more than 50 per cent in tax collection from the region.

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The NW region comprises Punjab, Haryana, UT Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

As per the income tax department (NW) region data, Chandigarh has 36.46 per cent income tax assessees with 3.85 lakh assessees against a population of 10.55 lakh as per 2011 census.

Among the NW region, Punjab has 5.42 per cent ratio while Haryana has 4.77 per cent ratio of tax assessees. The number of tax assessees in Punjab and Haryana were 15.03 lakh (2.77 crore population) and 12.08 lakh (2.53 crore population) respectively.

In Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, the percentage ratio stands at 5.10 and 1.56, respectively.

Tax assessees in HP and J&K were 3.50 lakh (68.64 lakh population) and 1.95 lakh (1.25 crore population), respectively.

In the NW region, the total number of tax assessees was 36.43 lakh with average ratio of 4.95 per cent.

A close monitoring of advance tax payments, TDS and self assessment tax by the I-T department led to growth of about 18 per cent in tax collection with mobilisation of Rs 34,959 crore in the NW region, said a senior income tax official.

"Our budget target for tax collection was Rs 34,511 crore but we collected Rs 34,959 crore and it is first time in last three years we exceeded the target," said Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax K C Jain.

The actual tax collection was 17.66 per cent more than the net collection of Rs 29,711 crore in 2015-16, he said.

At the national level, the tax collections grew by 14.2 per cent to Rs 8.47 lakh crore for financial year 2016-17.

Among the collection of Rs 34,959 crore, Haryana contributed Rs 18,914 crore while Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh witnessed collection of Rs 7,744 crore, Rs 2,401 crore, Rs 455 crore and Rs 5,442 crore.

"We monitored about 5,000 cases in NW region by deploying our officials," said Jain.

Out of Rs 34,959 crore, the department collected Rs 19,076 crore as personal income tax and rest was corporate tax.

The growth in corporate tax collection remained 7.97 per cent while growth in personal income tax was 21.36 per cent, he said.

Meanwhile, Jain said a 'Pratyaksh Kar Samagam' is going to be held in Panchkula tomorrow. In the two-day event, officials of NW region of the rank of income tax officials and above will participate.

Jain further said it has also been decided to send 500 clerks and ITOs to villages in NW region.

"They will stay in villages for three days. It is an attempt to sensitise them that in which condition they live and which condition we live. It will be their part of training," he said. — PTI