THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CAG report blames the government's negligence for the increase in revenue arrears in the state. 21,797 crore for the year 2020-21, which is about 22.33% of the total revenue of the government, is yet to be collected. Yet the government departments do not take it seriously. Departments do not report any year's arrears without being asked. No attempt is made to collect it as well.

It is natural that the arrears can run into thousands of crores when no proper reporting and collection efforts are made. Often the latter is recommended to be written off. 1,905 crore dues related to the Excise Department have been requested to be written off. Apart from this, there are stay orders from the government when trying to collect dues. This is more than the stays granted by the court. According to the report, such measures will result in a revenue shortfall for the government.

No other interests behind cess: Finance Minister

Finance Minister KN Balagopal said that fuel cess was introduced for the benefit of the people and there are no other interests behind it. Increasing revenue arrears is a dangerous situation. There is a need for amendment in the law so that the amount to be collected by various departments in the form of taxes etc. will reach the government. There are legal issues in collecting VAT dues. The amendment would allow petitioning and recovery of large sums of arrears through legal process, as in GST. The government is thinking about it. There is also tax that cannot be collected because of the case involved. Some are in the stage of revenue recovery. The Public Accounts Committee will scrutinize the CAG report and take further action. Everyone should understand the situation of fuel cess. The tax hike comes as the Center is further crushing the state.

Status of tax arrears this year (in crores)

Total- 12,923

Revenue Stay- 6,739

Court stay- 4,897

Among other measures- 1,287