Prashant Bhushan in Dhanbad on Wednesday. (Gautam Dey)

Dhanbad, April 7: More than 90 per cent coal traders evade tax while 80 per cent of the remaining 10 per cent file their returns in other cities outside the state like Calcutta, slowly, but steadily, draining the district’s coffers.

This startling revelation was made by Dhanbad income tax commissioner Prashant Bhushan on Wednesday.

Revealing dismal figures of tax collection in the district for the 2009-10 fiscal, Bhushan said his office had taken strong note of the loss. “We had first requested tax evaders to abide by the rules. We warned them. Now, it is time to crack down on defaulters,” the commissioner said.

Bhushan said the returns filed by coal merchants in other parts of the country might be declared as “non-tax” and they would, thereby, be deprived of the return credit benefits.

“Provisions under Section 120(72) of Income Tax Act mandates filing of returns only in that city where the business exists,” the commissioner said. He, however, refused to give details of defaulters, saying that might hinder the process of data collection.

According to Bhushan, the district tax office in 2009-10 had collected a record Rs 30 crore against a target of Rs 25 crore, which was set excluding coal traders. In the 2008-09 fiscal, the collection had been Rs 20 crore.

Bhushan, who is posted in Bhagalpur and holds additional charge of the Dhanbad office, said altogether 70 surveys had been conducted during the year.

The collection would have increased manifold — something between Rs 90 crore and Rs 100 crore — had the coal traders paid tax in Dhanbad, he added.

Divulging figures of gross collection by the district office during the last fiscal, the commissioner said more than Rs 250 crore, including Rs 195 crore of tax deducted at source (TDS), had been collected. The gross amount would have crossed Rs 500 crore if coal traders had not evaded tax, he pointed out.

Holding computerisation work responsible for the delay in refund of TDS, Bhushan said all data were being verified online.

He said people would no longer have to rush to the district tax office to file their returns. “They will be able to do so online. A central processing centre has been established in Bangalore for the purpose.”