The Karnataka government on Friday informed the Legislative Assembly that the number of taxpayers in the State had increased by 4.2 lakh — from 5.8 lakh during the VAT regime to 10 lakh currently under the GST regime.
The tax collection too had increased from ₹44,816 crore in 2017-18 to ₹81,848 crore in 2022-23 under the GST, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs H.K. Patil said.
Explaining the benefits under the GST and amendments required for the Karnataka Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, Mr. Patil said ₹1,320 crore was collected in the form of penalty from various traders in the State during 2022-23. Close to 1,400 bogus dealers had been nabbed, he said.
The Legislative Assembly passed the Bill in order to overcome difficulties in the levy and collection of tax on intra-State supply of goods or services or both by the State government, Mr. Patil said.
Noting the features of the Bill, the former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the removal of the restriction imposed on registered persons engaged in supplying goods through e-commerce operations from opting to pay tax under the Composition Levy was not good. He said the removal of the restriction would lead to the evasion of tax. How would the government keep vigilance on tax evaders, he asked.
Mr. Bommai said a huge amount of tax had been evaded in arecanut and scrap material business in the State and demanded the government to step up its vigilance.
Aravind Bellad and Araga Jnanendra (both BJP), K.M. Shivalinge Gowda (Congress), H.D. Revanna and A. Manju (JD-S) said many owners of stone crushing units had been evading tax to the State.
The Karnataka Legislature (Prevention of Disqualification) (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was passed in the Assembly. It was passed to create the office of the Legal Advisor to the Chief Minister and prevent the disqualification of members (MLA) appointed as the legal adviser or the government’s representative in Delhi.
The Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was also passed in the Assembly. It was aimed to increase the amount of construction work undertaken by the persons belonging to SCs and STs from ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore.
Mr. Jnanendra welcomed the intention of the Bill but said that many SC/ST contractors did not have the financial support or the necessary machinery to undertake contract works and they sub-contract works to other categories of contractors.
“In the name of SC/ST contractors, general category contractors are executing works at the filed level,” the BJP member said.
Mr. Jnanendra also suggested the necessity of providing training to SC/ST contractors in big firms to gain first-hand experience on implementing works.
Mr. Shivalinge Gowda said the government should provide advance funds to SC/ST contractors to purchase machines and execute works.
