Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has made it clear that AP should be a role model for the country in GST collections. He instructed the officials to take strong measures to prevent tax evasion. He suggested that tax analysis should be done through data analytics.
GST officials of the central and state states were present in the coordination meeting of central and state GST officials chaired by Chief Minister Chandrababu, along with State Finance Principal Secretary Piyush Kumar and State Taxation Chief Commissioner Babu.
The Chief Minister made it clear that evasion should be prevented by using technology like data analytics and suggested that national wealth should be increased through an efficient tax collection process. He said that it should be useful for the welfare and development of the people. He said that there should be information coordination between central and state officials for GST realization.
He directed that there should be activities to compete with neighboring states regarding GST collections. He also suggested that factors like electricity consumption should be taken into account to identify evasion. The CM made it clear that his government’s goal is to make every system work efficiently.
He concluded that AP is ranked 4th in the country in attracting investments and his aspiration is to make AP the best in all sectors. He said that it is bringing 75 percent of the income to the Telangana state because of the development of Hyderabad in the past. He revealed that cities like Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati in AP will also reach the same level.
Chandrababu suggested that no mistake should be made in GST registrations. He said that soon the state government will compile the information of all departments and create a data lake. He said that this information will also be made available to the central GST officials. If the resources that come to the state are abundant, there will be no need to go to the center for every small issue.
The CM directed the officials to create awareness about tax evasion in collaboration with organizations like CII and take strict action if it is not brought under control. The officials explained to the CM that there has been a 3.4 percent growth in GST collections across the state.
The officials said that tax disputes will be resolved through the GST tribunals that will be set up in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada soon. The central officials requested the Chief Minister to allocate 5 acres of land in Amaravati for the construction of the Central GST Zonal Office and quarters.