Guwahati: The Northeast has witnessed a 28 per cent growth in tax collections till June 30 over the corresponding period last fiscal, the second highest in the country after Delhi, while the Numaligarh Refinery Ltd has emerged as the highest taxpayer in the PSU category for the region.

Principal chief commissioner of income tax, North Eastern Region, L.C. Joshi Ranee revealed the collections during the celebration of 158th Income Tax Day here on Tuesday.

He said the total collection till the June quarter was Rs 1,564 crore out of the targeted Rs 8,357 crore for the 2018-19 fiscal.

The collection in June last year was Rs 1,222 crore while the net collection in the region during 2017-18 fiscal was Rs 7,097 crore, a growth of 18.3 per cent over 2016-17 fiscal.

According to IT personnel, the rise in tax collection is significant because as per Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, a member of the Scheduled Tribe - residing in any area specified in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution or in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura - is exempted from paying tax on any income that accrues from any source in the area or state.

"For the development of the country resources are required and income tax is providing it. The income tax department is meeting its target year after year. If anyone pays tax it comes back to him as the money is used by the government for welfare of people of the country," Joshi Ranee said, while requesting taxpayers to avail the benefits of online applications like Aaykar Setu which helps taxpayers get any information and service they require.

As part of the celebrations, the office of the principal chief commissioner of income tax, NER, Guwahati felicitated top three taxpayers in the non-corporate and corporate (both PSUs and non-PSUs) sectors of the Northeast for the financial year 2016-17.

Under the PSU category, Numaligarh Refinery Ltd, Oil India Ltd and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd were felicitated as the top three taxpayers respectively while in the non-PSU sector Greenply Industries Ltd, Lafarge Umium Mining Private Ltd and Star Cement Meghalaya Ltd were felicitated as top three taxpayers.

On behalf of NRL, Senior CGM (corporate affairs) A.K. Bhattacharya received the honours from Joshi Ranee at the function in a city hotel.

A category-I Miniratna PSU, having the latest technology and the largest-installed capacity of 3.0 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA)in the Northeast, the NRL has paid corporate income tax of Rs 934.97 crore for 2016-17 (assessment year 2017-18) along with dividend distribution tax of Rs 202.17 crore, taking the tally of total taxes paid to Rs1137.14 crore, the NRL said on Tuesday.

The company's refining business is continuing to deliver stellar performances.