The Uttarakhand tax department has generated an impressive sum of INR 2,648.1 crores in sales tax/VAT on liquor over the course of 22 years, beginning from the fiscal year 2001-02 up until 2022-23, as per recent data obtained by RTI activist Nadeem Uddin. This substantial revenue was solely derived from the sale of liquor within the state.
In response to a request made by Nadeem for information on the amount of tax revenue collected on liquor across the state, the public information officer Deepak Brijwal, currently posted as the Deputy Commissioner at state tax headquarters in Dehradun, disclosed that the data illustrates a steady increase in the tax revenue collected on liquor.
As per the data, the tax revenue collected from the sale of liquor in the state has shown a consistent upward trend, with the fiscal year 2022-23 recording the highest revenue collection to date.
As an advocate by profession, Nadeem stated that the tax revenue generated from liquor sales in the fiscal year 2022-23 amounted to INR 361.05 crores, which is around 22 times higher than the collection of INR 15.90 crores in 2001-02. Additionally, despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the tax revenue for the fiscal year 2020-21 was Rs 39 crores more than the previous year.
Moreover, the tax revenue for the fiscal year 2021-22 stood at INR 334.43 crores, and in the initial 10 months of the following fiscal year 2022-23, the tax collected on liquor sales has already surpassed the total amount collected in the previous year by INR 15 crores.