Tamil Nadu’s Own Tax Revenue grew 4.92% to ₹72,017.8 crore in the first half of 2023-24, from ₹68,637.7 crore in the comparable period last year, according to the provisional figures from the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG).
The State’s Own Tax Revenue (SOTR) accounts for 70% of Tamil Nadu’s total revenue. Among the SOTR components, the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) collection grew about 12.2% to ₹29,481.97 crore in the April-September, 2023 period from ₹26,285.31 crore in the same period last year.
Revenue from Stamps and Registration Fees increased to ₹9,241.14 crore in the first half of 2023-24 from ₹8,662.15 crore in the comparable period of last year. During the April-September, 2023 period, land revenue was almost flat at ₹126.39 crore, compared with ₹125.07 crore in the first half of 2022-23.
Revenue collection from the component taxes on sales and trade etc. (including VAT on petrol and diesel and liquor) declined to ₹27,876.54 crore in the first half of the current fiscal, from ₹28,214.14 crore in the comparable period last year.
The State Excise Duties (which reflect liquor revenue) declined to ₹5,291.76 crore in the April-September, 2023 period, from ₹5,351.03 crore in the same period last year.
Including the Share in Central Taxes, Grants-in-Aid from the Union government and the State’s Own Non-Tax Revenue, Tamil Nadu’s total revenue stood at ₹1,11,344.47 crore in the first half of 2023-24, which is 41.16% of the budget estimates, according to the CAG.
The revenue expenditure, which includes expenditure on salaries to government employees, pensions and other retirement benefits, operations and maintenance expenditure, stood at ₹1,32,980.02 crore in the first half of 2023-24.
As the revenue expenditure exceeded the revenue receipts, Tamil Nadu’s revenue deficit was ₹21,635.55 crore in the April-September, 2023 period. Fiscal deficit, which is the difference between total receipts and total disbursals, stood at ₹45,168.86 crore in the first half of 2023-24.
The government will attempt to manage the revenue deficit at the budgeted level of ₹37,540 crore in 2023-24 and strive to stay within the fiscal deficit target of 3.25% of the Gross State Domestic Product and manage the Debt to GSDP ratio within the prescribed limits through revenue augmentation and effective fiscal consolidation, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu had told the Assembly last month.
