Now, pay commercial tax online

Traders can remit their commercial taxes at the click of the mouse. The new e-payment system implemented for paying commercial taxes is not only an anytime and anywhere affair, but also calls for a few seconds to get through with job.

The system also brings to an end the practice that called for traders to wait for hours on end to pay their taxes.

Taxpayers can now pay VAT, KST, CST, KTEG and PT through the new system. Shortly the remaining commercial taxes like luxury, entertainment and betting taxes too would be included in the system.

The commercial tax department, in association with Reserve Bank of India, has launched the comprehensive e-payment system for remittance of commercial taxes from Thursday. Chief minister BS Yeddyurappa launched the first-of-its-kind system in the country at Vidhana Soudha.

All that is required of the payee is to have an internet bank account so that he or she can remit taxes from any place and at anytime without physically approaching the office.

At present, the commercial tax department’s monthly collections are over Rs2,000 crore and most of the payment is by way of about one lakh cheques issued by traders. This involved a huge amount of manual work and at the same time, delay in realisations of amount and some cases of bounced cheques also. The reconciliation process was very difficult.

Six banks — State Bank of India, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Hyderabad, Syndicate Bank, Canara Bank and Union Bank of India — have been enabled to participate in the system.

Consultations are on with other public sector banks to involve them too in the endeavour.

The participating banks who receive e-remittances from tax-payers can upload the transaction files on to the RBI web till 8 pm every day. The RBI, Bangalore branch will remit the proceedings to the government of Karntaka account. The system has been designed such that reconciliation also is very easy.

After launching the new e-payment system, chief minister Yeddyurappa said it would benefit the tax-payers as well as the state government. He said the state was doing well on the commercial taxes front and collections were in fact beyond expectations. The new system would be a welcome value addition, he felt.

Appreciating the state government’s efforts to improve the tax collection system, RBI deputy governor Shyamala Gopinath said, “This e-payment system will help tax-payers, banks and the state government. It is a unique effort which is certain to be followed by other states.”