DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise and Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday said that the Excise and Taxation Department has collected revenue worth Rs 1252.36 Crore till November during the current financial year on the basis of the reports generated by Data Mining Wing, which is almost three times as compared to the collection of Rs 422.09 Crore during the same period of FY 2021-22. Revealing this in a press communique, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that out of total revenue recovered on the basis of reports of the Data Mining Wing, Rs 279.01 Crore was the revenue paid in cash and Rs 973.35 Crore was the reversal or adjustment of Input Tax Credit (ITC). "Compared to this, Last year's revenue collection till November 2021 on the basis of reports shared by Data Mining wing was Rs 422.09 Crore, out of which Rs 261.68 Crore was revenue paid in cash and Rs 160.41 Crore was ITC reversed or adjusted", said Cheema. Emphasising on the technological advancement to crack down on tax evasions rather than harassing the taxpayers through the 'Inspector Raj' as was the case earlier, the Finance Minister said that the Data Mining Wing has been detecting tax evasion activities with the help of ETTSA (Departments own Technical Service Agency) and various platforms that includes Boweb Portal, Waybill portal, SAS tool, BIFA and JPAL etc. "Data Mining Wing prepares reports based upon irregularities and discrepancies detected in the data provided by GSTN and ETTSA. These reports are being shared with concerned wings of the department for necessary action besides ensuring the compliance from them", he added. The Finance Minister said that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government has focused its strength on closing the loopholes to check any sort of tax evasion. He said that the Tax Intelligence Unit established by the Excise and Tax Department was also an important decision taken in this direction. He further added that these efforts of the state government would not only increase the revenue but also improve the ease of doing business in the state for the betterment of progressive and honest traders and industrialists. (editor@dailyworld.in)