Special drive: Andhra Pradesh commercial taxes dept collected Rs 350.8 cr in October

TIRUPATI: Thanks to the special drive being carried out by the Andhra Pradesh commercial taxes department which has brought some respite to the funds starved state government as the government department has managed to collect Rs.350.8 crore in the month of October against a set target of Rs. 332.5 crore.
Speaking to TOI, deputy chief minister K Narayana Swamy who also holds the commercial taxes department portfolio, said that the commercial taxes department has launched a special drive for collection of VAT, profession tax, interest arrears etc.The special drive which was launched in October will end in December.
"The economic slowdown coupled with the negative impact on the businesses due to Covid-19 has had an adverse impact on tax revenues in the state. Now that the businesses have revived following a series of unlock measures announced by the union government from time to time, the commercial taxes department mooted a special drive to make up for the revenue losses. Accordingly a target of Rs.960 crores has been set to be collected during the special drive", noted deputy chief minister K Narayana Swamy.
"While a target of Rs. 332.5 crore was set to be collected in the month of October, the commercial taxes department managed to collect Rs. 350.8 crore, thanks to the dedicated efforts put in by the departmental officers in the last one month. Chief commissioner - commercial taxes and special chief secretary, revenue (commercial taxes) department are closely monitoring the monthwise collections during the special drive", added K Narayana Swamy.
Meanwhile, the collection targets set for the department for the months of November and December are Rs. 292.16 crore and Rs. 332.55 crore respectively.