The Government auditor Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report showed that tax arrears towards excise duty rose to Rs 59309 crore in 2013-14 from Rs 45463 crore a year ago. Notably, CAG in its audit report on Indirect Taxes (central excise) tabled in Parliament showed that arrears (pending recovery) have been rising since 2011-12. At the end of 2011-12, the arrears were Rs 35,964 crore, while they summed up-to rose to Rs 45,463 crore at the end of 2012-13 and further to Rs 59,309 crore in 2013-14.
During the 2013-14 fiscal, the tax department could realize only Rs 1,178 crore of arrears in central excise, which is 2.59% of the arrears at the commencement of the year which stood at Rs 45,463 crore. The collection during the previous year stood at 4.34% in 2012-13 fiscal.
The CAG report further stated that revenue foregone on account of central excise exemptions has declined to Rs 1.95 lakh crore during 2013-14 fiscal from Rs 2.09 lakh crore a year ago. The revenue forgone to the tune of Rs 1.95 crore was 115% of the total revenue collected from central excise during the fiscal.
Meanwhile, Central excise receipts during 2013-14 fiscal were over Rs 1.69 lakh crore. For 2012-13 fiscal, the central excise revenue foregone by the tax department was over Rs 2.09 lakh crore, which was 119% of the excise receipts of over Rs 1.75 lakh crore.