CBIC to use property tax data, electricity bill to increase GST tax

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is ready to use the data from electric metres and property tax to increase the tax base on goods and services (GST), said Vivek Johri, CBIC Chairman.
When the GST was implemented, there was a GST tax base of Rs 45–50 lakh, which has now increased to Rs 1.4 crore. Johri said, and added, “We feel that there is a good scope for increasing the tax base.”We will take the help of power distribution companies, take the data from electric meters, and also use the property tax data to increase the tax base of the GST.”
In an interview with a news agency, the CBIC Chairman said the board’s strategy regarding GST is that “collecting revenue is its target, but along with that, it is also necessary to increase the tax base.”
“When we look at other tax bases, the number of GST taxpayers is very low.” “We want to increase the Rs 1.5 crore monthly GST collections that will become the norm and do this in a very systematic and scientific way, in which we will use analytics,” Vivek Johri said.  Johri said that for example, property tax has two types of data: commercial and residential, and “if we see the base of commercial properties, especially in big cities, it gives us an idea that there is some commercial use at such and such an address.”