Punjab GST revenue rises 24.5% in first 8 months of FY23: Minister Cheema

"The Taxation department has achieved these results by emphasizing the use of technology rather than harassing honest taxpayers through general inspections," Cheema said in an official statement here.

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Thursday said Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection has increased by 24.5 per cent year-on-year to Rs 11,967.76 crore in April-November this fiscal.

Cheema said the total revenue from GST during the first eight months of 2021-22 was Rs 9,612.6 crore, whereas the total collection from April to November this year stood at Rs 11,967.76 crore.

“The Taxation department has achieved these results by emphasizing the use of technology rather than harassing honest taxpayers through general inspections,” Cheema said in an official statement here.

The finance minister said the Punjab government has also decided to use the services of GST Prime, the latest data analysis tool created by NIC.

GST Prime would help in the creation of specific data analysis reports on various parameters, and the strictest action would be initiated as per these reports, he added.

He also said the department has also undertaken a lot of activities to guide and facilitate genuine taxpayers so that they can do their business in a better way.

Cheema further said that the taxation department has established a new Tax Intelligence Unit (TIU) in the State GST Commissionerate to monitor the GSTN platform for better analysis of the data available over it.

The state government has decided to establish TIU as all services and returns of registered taxpayers are available on the GSTN platform in digital mode, he noted.

Promising to adopt more friendly initiatives by the tax department to facilitate honest taxpayers during the coming year 2023, Cheema said the taxation department has already launched a bilingual WhatsApp Chatbot-cum-helpline number to address the queries and issues of the taxpayers regarding GST.