PATNA: Bihar and Jharkhand's principal chief commissioner (Income Tax) Kailash Chandra Ghumaria on Tuesday expressed concern over the number of taxpayers in Bihar and Jharkhand. "The two states together account for more than 10% of the country's population, but contribute less than 1% tax," he said.
Speaking at a workshop on tax awareness in Patna on Tuesday, Ghumaria said the I-T department was closely monitoring different transactions and had identified at least 3,500 tax evaders. "The department will send notices to these people within a fortnight," he said.
He said the tax collection target for Bihar and Jharkhand was only Rs 13,200 crore of the country's Rs 10 lakh crore. "It's a small target, but we still have to struggle to achieve it," the I-T official said.
While admitting that there were very few industries in Bihar, Ghumaria pointed out that trade was good in the state. "I have seen people spend lavishly on their living... That they don't pay taxes on time betrays that they do not have the mindset or they take it casually," he regretted.
He said even the government agencies were under the scanner for faulty tax deductions. "At least 11 government deductors are defaulters against whom prosecution proceedings have been initiated under the I-T Act, 1961," he said.
Speaking on the occasion, I-T joint commissioner (Ranchi) Nisha Oraon said the department during a recent survey found that many government undertakings were neither getting their accounts audited nor were filing returns.
