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Excise tax nets record revenue during 2007-08

PUDUCHERRY: With tight monitoring and a rationalised excise structure, earning’s from excise revenue collection have increased during 2007-08.

The government’s excise duty collections during 2007-08 increased to Rs. 224 crore against the target of Rs. 220 crore. It was Rs. 143.49 the previous year, Deputy Collector (Excise) R. Anbajagane told The Hindu.

He attributed the increase to the introduction of additional excise duty of 35 per cent in lieu of sales tax and steps targeting to plug duty evasion, especially with regard to the sale of seconds (non-duty paid alcohol).

The introduction of additional excise duty the last financial year saw an increase of Rs. 80 crore from the excise revenue collected from Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), he said, adding that the tax was collected from the bonded warehouse, on the premises of the five IMFL bottling and blending unit in the Union Territory.

Further, the government had made it mandatory for all the liquor shops to have hologram label imprinted on the bottles to check evasion of tax, Mr. Anbajagane said.

“Earlier we were not able to distinguish between taxed and non-taxed bottles.

“After the government made the holograms mandatory, all bottles that have been taxed at the bonded warehouse would have the label on it,” he said.

The initiative led to the plugging of loopholes in the excise duty collection and helped collect untapped revenue from last year, he said adding that they issued licences to around 200 persons to run liquor shops in the Union Territory.

Another major factor that contributed to the increase in revenue collection was the introduction of internet auction of arrack and toddy shops, Mr. Anbajagane said.

The revenue collected through auction of arrack and toddy shop during the last financial year was around Rs. 60 crore, he said adding that they have set a target of Rs. 245 crore through excise revenue collection for 2008-09.

Mr. Anbajagane said they could also net around Rs. 30 lakh in the last three years from the sale of rectified spirit seized from bootleggers.

The Excise Department seized 1.75 lakh litres of rectified spirit during raids conducted during the last three years. 1.25 lakh of that was sold to Pondicherry Distilleries Limited after obtaining the permission of court, he said.

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