Given that achieving the tax revenue target is critical to keeping the fiscal deficit within the budgeted level of 4.8% of GDP, the cabinet secretariat has told the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) that the proposed cadre recast of CBEC officials hinges on the board hitting the tax collection figure set for this fiscal. The indirect tax (excise, customs and service tax) target for 2013-14 is R5.65 lakh crore.
The cadre restructuring promises better career prospects for CBEC’s 20,000-strong staff and more secretary-level jobs in the department.
Sources privy to the development said that CBEC has given an undertaking — to meet the revenue target — to the cabinet secretariat in the form of a memorandum of understanding and is awaiting a decision by the Cabinet. Although the cost of the restructuring would only be about R2,000 crore a year, the government wants to ensure that every paisa it spends yields results. Official sources said the cost of hiring more officials is negligible compared to the revenue collected by the department, for which a stronger field force is vital. “We are not even getting replacements for officials who are retiring as the cadre restructuring proposal is pending,” said an official, who asked not to be named.
The direct tax collection target for 2013-14 is R6,68,109 crore, up 19.69% from last year. This now looks difficult as GDP growth has been lower than what the Budget pegged it at.
Following the CBEC’s MoU with the cabinet secretariat, one could expect more aggressive field staff at customs centres and excise evasion is likely to be checked more meticulously. A drive to step up service tax collection is already on.
Although missing the revenue target is a distinct possibility, going by the persistent slow growth in manufacturing, the CBEC's optimism stems from last year's trend of collecting more taxes in the second half of the fiscal. It collected 62% of the total central excise duty, 63%of service tax and 53% of the customs duty in the October-March period last fiscal.
The board is now paying extra attention on collecting tax arrears and tackling possible
Source:-www.financialexpress.com
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