Finance Minister Atishi announced the annual budget 2024–25 on Monday, a budget that is expected to cost Rs 76,000 crore. The government of Delhi plans to improve the Goods and Services Tax administration, making it more transparent in order to increase income.
70% of the total tax income of Rs 58,750 crore projected in the budget for 2024–25 would come from the government’s collection of Rs 41,000 crore through the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Value Added Tax (VAT). The state excise income is estimated in the budget for 2024–2025 at Rs 6,400 crore, or 11% of total tax revenue. Stamps and registration, which account for Rs 7,750 crore (13%) and motor vehicle taxes, which account for Rs 3,600 crore (6%), are two other significant sources of tax collection. The government of Delhi is dedicated to efficiently raising excise taxes.
According to Atishi, the value-added tax (VAT) and GST receipts in the fiscal year 2023–24 increased by 13.96 percent year over year to Rs 31,445 crore by January 2024.
The finance minister stated, “The Kejriwal government’s next move is to modernize the GST IT infrastructure and make the entire GST Tax Administration faceless.” Together with IIT Hyderabad, the Delhi government is developing automation and data analytics software. In addition to cutting down on processing time and file mistakes, she stated that this will use artificial intelligence and data analytics to assist track, monitor, and streamline the refund process. Not a single state in the nation has refrained from taking out loans to cover its budget deficit subsequent to the elimination of GST compensation. She said that although the Delhi government offers women free services like power, water, and bus transportation, it is the only one that really raises its own funds and maintains a budget surplus.
According to the minister of finance, 4.82 lakh of the 7.88 lakh GST taxpayers in Delhi are under the control of the Delhi government. The national government is responsible for the remaining 3.06 lakh taxpayers. This year, 167 special audits have found a total tax deficit of Rs 5,321 crore. Based on this firsthand information, the Kejriwal administration has also implemented stringent measures against fraudulent vendors. Based on intelligence tips, the government stopped 2,911 fictitious companies and found Rs 1,316 crore in tax fraud through field verification.
The vehicle tax collection for 2023–2024 (until January 2024) was recorded at Rs 2,687.98 crore, up 11.88 percent from the previous year (until January 2023). Meanwhile, the tax collection for stamp and registration fees (including land revenue) was recorded at Rs 5,797 crore (until January 2024), up 16.81 percent from the previous year (until January 2023), according to the minister.
She emphasized Delhi’s economic status by stating that the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) increased at a rate of 9.17% in 2023–24, from an expected Rs 10.15 lakh crore in the previous fiscal year to Rs 11.08 lakh crore this year. The minister stated that Delhi’s per capita income grew to Rs 4.62 lakh in 2023–24 at current prices from Rs 2.47 lakh in 2014–15, or around 2.5 times more than the national average.
