Buggana dares Opposition for a debate on State finances

Minister for Finance, Planning and Commercial Taxes Buggana Rajendranath Reddy inaugurated Regional GST and Enforcement Office on Besant Road here on Friday.

Minister for Finance, Planning and Commercial Taxes Buggana Rajendranath Reddy inaugurated Regional GST and Enforcement Office on Besant Road here on Friday.

Later addressing a press conference, the Finance Minister said the Andhra Pradesh State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) collections were higher than the Central GST (CGST), which was the highest in the country.  He dared the Opposition parties to a debate on the State’s finances. 

Mr. Rajendranath Reddy said there was no iota of truth in the allegations being made by a few people on the State taxes, revenue and administration. If the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) were really incompetent, how had the State progressed and developed during the last four years, he asked. 

The increase in tax collections was enough to prove the capabilities of the YSRCP government.  The tax collections  were ₹28,103 crore in 2022-23 compared to ₹23,386 crore in 2021-22 , registering a growth of 25%. It was the highest in the State’s history. The CGST collection was 21.36%, while the SGST was  25.23%. The SGST was 4% more than CGST. the overall growth was 23%.

The CGST collections in Maharashtra were 23.6% while SGST was  24.4%. Similarly, in Karnataka, the CGST was 28.5% and SGST was 27.5%. Karnataka stood first in the country with regard to the GST collections, while A.P. stood in the third place. But, the SGST collections in AP were higher than  the CGST. It was 4%, making Andhra Pradesh first in the country in this aspect, he explained.

The government was delivering its promises and implementing the schemes and programmes with utmost dedication and sincerity. The government implemented welfare schemes even during the COVID period. Social security pensions were being distributed on the first day of every month without fail. Andhra Pradesh was at the forefront of industrial development and witnessed investments worth  ₹11,000 crore per annum. If TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu or former Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu have a fair idea of State finances and governance, they could come for a debate, he said.

With a view to implementing the decisions in a more transparent manner, the government adopted inverted pyramid-type reforms. The initiative was  yielding positive results.  Inspections would be done only after confirming that mistakes took place. The Commercial Taxes Department was a dealer-friendly department. A legal cell was established to solve the pending cases at the earliest. It would help in realising the tax dues.  The government was devising policies and taking decisions to benefit the taxpayers.  Previously, registration of tax payments, enforcement, audit  etc. duties used to be discharged by a single officer leading to discrepancies. To put an end to it, as part of the reforms,  those duties were segregated, he added.