Gujarat has had a bittersweet tryst with tax sensibilities. In 2011, the BJP asked the Manmohan Singh government why the Income-Tax department had been singling out Gujarat. Back then, the BJP alleged that the Congress-led UPA government was creating hurdles for industrialists to invest in Gujarat. BJP spokesperson SS Ahluwalia, using strong words, whined that the industrialists were “not sea pirates” and that they were coming to India on valid passports.
“They are trying to scare the investors away from Gujarat,” he famously remarked.
Circa 2023, and the irony can’t be missed.
Gujarat is now home to about 11.44 lakh taxpayers, of which 15,000 have contributed Rs 44,860 crore to the state’s revenues from GST, data compiled by the state commercial tax department revealed. About 1.3% of the state’s taxpayers contribute 80% to its revenue through GST, signifying a substantial growth of large corporations in the state.
SGST officials have reportedly confirmed that Gujarat ranks first in India in GST compliances, with 98.46% of eligible taxpayers filing returns in 2022-23. Some 85.48% of taxpayers filed returns within deadlines, during the year.
According to a report, Indian Oil Corporation, L&T Infrastructure, Reliance Industries Limited, Suzuki Motor Gujarat, Birla Copper unit of Hindalco Industries, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, LIC Gandhinagar division, Steel Authority of India, Ultratech Cement and Essar Steel feature among the top tax-paying large corporations.
The income from GST in Gujarat stood at Rs 56,064 crore during the current fiscal year, the report added, which is a 23% increase compared to Rs 45,464 crore in 2021-22.
It has emerged that a few of these companies make substantial contributions to the national tax mop-up, through CGST and IGST revenues to the country’s exchequer.
