The Income Tax Department celebrated its 158th year on the Income Tax Day on July 24, 2018. As part of the celebration, LC Joshi Ranee, Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, North East Region (NER), Guwahati, hoisted the departmental flag at Aayakar Bhawan in Guwahati.
To mark the occasion, the Income Tax Department honoured top six tax payers in the category of Corporate (both PSUs and Non-PSUs) and top three highest individual tax payers of NER for the financial year 2016-17, relevant to the assessment year 2017-18 in a programme held in Guwahati.
In the category of Corporate Tax Payers (PSUs), Numaligarh Refinery (NRL), Oil India Limited (OIL) and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) were felicitated for being 1st, 2nd and third respectively in Corporate (PSU).
In the category of Corporate Tax Payers (Non-PSUs), Greenply Industries Limited, Lafarge Umiam Mining Private Limited and Star Cement, Meghalaya were felicitated for being first, second and third respectively in Corporate (Non-PSUs).
In the category of Non-Corporate Tax Payers (Individual), Rajendra Kumar Bader, Anand Kishor Jain and Jugal Kishor Mahanta were felicitated for being the first, second and third respectively in Individual category.
On the occasion, the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, NER, presented mementos along with certificates to the top tax payers in the presence of representatives from ICAI, Guwahati, Tax Bar Association, Guwahati, FINER, Guwahati and the officers of the department.
The Department has also invited the longest living veteran of the Department in NER, Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya, who could not be present due to age related ailments but sent his message, stated an Income Tax press communiqué.
In the programme, a short film highlighting the achievements and services provided to the tax payers was also screened.
From the financial year 2015-16 onwards, the Income Tax Department in NER has shown a steady annual growth in collection ranging from 15% to 17%, which have been much higher compared to the all India growth during the same period. The net collection in the region during the financial year 2017-18 has risen to Rs 7,097 crore. During the current financial year, the Income Tax Department in NER has also collected Rs 1,564 crore out of the Budget target of Rs 8,357 crore till June 30, 2018 registering a growth of 28% over the corresponding period of financial year 2017-18.
“Though large areas of the region and its populace are exempted from paying Income Tax under Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the Department is doing its utmost to expand the tax payer base and during the financial year 2017-18 alone, 189784 new assesses have been added to raise the number of assesses to 7, 37,815 as on March 31, 2018. Accordingly, 6,01,167 returns have been filed before different Assessing Officers of the region during the financial year 2017-18,” added the press communique.