A Report in Hindustan Times reveal that Andhra Pradesh Government is raking good money by increasing various Taxes. According to the report, the Government has levied various taxes and levies, hiked in the name of COVID-19 last year.
As a result, the cash-strapped government has earned an extra ₹12,052.29 crore in tax revenue in the first five months of the 2021-22 financial year. This has come as a huge relief to the Government which is relying on loans to even pay salaries and pensions to its employees.
The state almost exhausted its targeted borrowing estimate, securing loans of ₹36,976.93 crore (99.86 per cent) in the first five months itself. It had to lobby with the Central Government for extra loan limit and also resort to increasing the tax burden on the people despite the Pandemic.
While tax revenue increased by over ₹12,000 crore, non-tax revenue increased marginally with a spike of ₹423.12 crore and Central grants by ₹3,213 crore. But, the revenue deficit mounted to a staggering ₹31,188.49 crore in five months against the annual target of only ₹5,000 crore.
Incidentally, the state has spent only a mere 5,482 Crore Rupees towards the Capital Expenditure (i.e., the expense towards development works) spending most of the monies towards freebies.
