Is Hyderabad’s economy not doing too well despite a stable political climate and a host of business-friendly measures taken by the Telangana state government which aims to make it the No. 1 business hub in the country? Well, at least the Income Tax collections (up to April 4, 2018) for the financial year 2017-2018 indicate so.
Bengaluru and Chennai have beaten Hyderabad when it comes to Income tax collections in the south Indian states while Mumbai continues to top the chart with about Rs 3.28 lakh crore tax collections while New Delhi stood second with over Rs 1.30 lakh crore, showing a growth rate of 26.2 pc and 22 pc respectively.
After Mumbai and Delhi, it is Bengaluru at the third position with about Rs 1.04 lakh crore, Chennai at fourth place with Rs 68,715 crore and Hyderabad at Rs 49,772 crore. The all India collections stand at over Rs 9.86 lakh crore.
According to region-wise collections of taxes, accessed by Express, Hyderabad (Hyderabad region includes Telangana and Andhra Pradesh) stands at 6th position with Rs 49,772 crore tax collections, a slight improvement when compared to last year when the figures stood at Rs 39,554 crore, showing a growth rate of 25.8 per cent, which is above the national average of 19.8 pc.
Highly placed sources disclosed to Express that though the rise in Income tax collections in Hyderabad fell short of expectations, they rose primarily because of tremendous pressure from the Centre (Finance Ministry) to show results which in turn ended up with regional IT departments goading the top tax payers to pay taxes.
‘‘Otherwise, when compared to Bengaluru and Chennai in south India, Hyderabad’s economy does not seem to be doing that well. At least the figures say so,’’ they said.
Sources further said that though there has been an increase in the number of assessments due to demonetisation (as more people came into the tax net due to cash deposits in banks), the prime reason for the rise in collections was due to the amendment of the IT Act to advance the last date of filing of IT returns.
‘‘In the normal course, the belated date (after the due date) for filing IT returns would be March 31, 2018 for filing of assessment (returns) for the year 2016-17.
Consequent to the amendment which led to reducing the time for filing belated returns — for 2016-17 and 2017-18 — were filed by March 31, 2018. The huge amount of self-assessment (taxes) for the assessment year 2017-18 which, otherwise could have been paid up to March 31, 2019 has been paid in March 2018 itself,’’ they said.
The Finance Ministry is understood to have expressed its displeasure at the tax collections of Hyderabad region and so also other states. ‘’Hyderabad should have been at the fourth or fifth position at least,’’ remarked one official.
Hyderabad region (includes Telangana and AP) stands at 6th position with Rs 49,772 crore tax collections, a slight improvement compared to last year when the figures stood at Rs 39,554 crore, showing a growth rate of 25.8 pc, which is above the national average of 19.8 per cent
The fact that Bengaluru remained far ahead clearly indicated that the economy in this city, considered as the Silicon Valley of India, is growing steadily when compared to other parts of south India. Last year, Bengaluru region collected tax of Rs 89,332 crore. Similarly, Chennai, which is on the fourth position at Rs 68,715 crore, had collected Rs 60,378 crore last year.
Coming to Pune, which stood at fifth position, with tax collections of Rs 51,609 crore showed a growth rate of 22.9%. Last year, the taxes collected in this region stood at Rs 41,993 crore. “The financial hub of the country, Mumbai has always topped the tax collections. At 26.2%, it shows the highest growth rate in the country. It has always remained the No.1 region for tax collections. Last year, the tax collections from this financial hub was Rs 2.60 lakh crore.’’
Interestingly, Gujarat which is PM Narendra Modi’s home state, is lagging behind Pune and Hyderabad with total tax collection of Rs 46,799 crore. #KhabarLive
