The Hindu : Karnataka News : Over Rs. 1,000-crore loss due to under-assessment

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Friday, Jul 27, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Over Rs. 1,000-crore loss due to under-assessment

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has said that the State Exchequer has incurred Rs. 1,016.84 crore loss in 1,464 cases due to reasons such as under-assessments and non/short levy of commercial taxes, profession tax, electricity tax, betting tax, entertainment tax, entry tax, sales tax, agricultural income tax, forest, excise, motor vehicles, forest, mineral receipts, energy and sericulture departments.

The CAG report, which was presented in the Legislative Assembly, said that the test checks of records in the various departments revealed these lapses.

During 2005-06, the departments concerned accepted under-assessments and short demands aggregating Rs. 79.35 crore in 893 cases.

This included 849 cases involving Rs. 29.53 crore which were pointed out in audit in earlier years.

A sum of Rs. 20.53 crore relating to 702 audit observations was recovered at the instance of the audit, the report added.

According to the CAG office, 3,599 inspection reports were issued up to December 2005 containing 6,300 observations involving Rs. 985.49 crore pending settlement at the end of June 2006.

The CAG office, which reviewed levy and collection of mineral receipts, said lack of coordination between Land Revenue and Mines and Geology departments resulted in illegal mining not being curbed.

The estimated loss to the Government was Rs. 284 crore.

Incorrect classification of shale used in the manufacture of cement resulted in short levy of royalty of Rs. 6.98 crore.

Loss

Incorrect fixation of minimum bid for disposal of lease for quarrying ordinary sand led to a loss of revenue of Rs. 81.76 crore.

Incorrect adjustment of payments towards royalty instead of interest resulted in a loss of interest of Rs. 16.60 crore. Non-levy of penalty of Rs. 122.39 crore for despatching building stones without obtaining mineral despatch permits from 2000-01 to 2004-05 has also been detected.

The Government incurred Rs. 100.19 crore loss due to non-realisation or short-realisation of stamp duty during the same period.

They related to acknowledgements, certificates of sale, conveyances of industrial property, leases of immovable or movable property and licences of immovable or movable property with respect to 26 departments, statutory corporations and public sector undertakings.

The CAG indicted the Stamps and Registration Department for the lack of a system to obtain information periodically from persons regularly executing instruments of the nature attracting stamp duty.

Consequently, the extent of compliance with the provisions of the Act was not ascertainable from the records of the department.

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