Karnataka: CM Siddaramaiah urges tax officials to aim for top spot in GST collection

CM Siddaramaiah urged tax officials to target the top spot in GST collection, praising their role in surpassing last year’s targets. He assured support for their demands and highlighted revenue’s role in funding guarantee schemes.

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urged commercial tax officials to aim for the top spot in GST collection, with Karnataka currently ranked second in the country.

Speaking at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Karnataka Commercial Taxes Service Association at Palace Grounds on Saturday, he said, “Even when I was the finance minister, I never interfered unnecessarily in the work of tax officials. As Chief Minister, I don’t have much time for regular review meetings. However, officials must work diligently to achieve the department’s tax collection targets. There is significant tax leakage in Bengaluru that must be addressed.”

He emphasised the need to prevent tax leakage across the state and reiterated the government's commitment to improving the tax payment process. “Currently, Maharashtra is leading in tax collection, and Karnataka is in second place. But if we make a concerted effort, we can reach the top,” Siddaramaiah said.

Guarantee schemes backed by revenue performance

The Chief Minister praised the dedication of commercial tax officials, noting their role in the government’s successful implementation of guarantee schemes. “Good tax collection is the result of committed and responsible officials. Last year, the collection target was ₹1.03 lakh crore, but officials exceeded it by collecting ₹1.20 lakh crore, an additional ₹17,000 crore,” he said.

“For the current fiscal year, the target is ₹1.20 lakh crore. The opposition had predicted that the state would go bankrupt due to our guarantee schemes. But this year, we presented a ₹4.09 lakh crore budget, with ₹50,018 crore allocated for guarantee schemes. So far, ₹90,000 crore has been spent on them, made possible by the hard work of tax department officials,” Siddaramaiah added.

CM assures support for tax officials’ demands

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also assured that the government would consider the demands raised by the tax officials' association. “We are always receptive to the legitimate demands of government employees. At the same time, disciplinary action will be taken against those who neglect their duties,” he stated.

“If the department achieves the ₹1.20 lakh crore target this financial year, fulfilling your demands, even if it costs ₹4 crore, will not be a burden on the government. We are committed to resolving any salary-related discrepancies,” he assured.

The event was attended by the Chief Minister’s Economic Advisor Basavaraj Ray Reddy, Political Secretary Nazir Ahmed, Legislative Council members Nagaraj Yadav and Ramoji Gowda, Additional Chief Secretary to the CM LK Ateeq, Finance Department Additional Chief Secretary Ritesh Kumar Singh, and Economics Department Secretary PC Jaffer.