'No taxes' budget will hurt schemes: BJP

The current financial year’s tax collection is around Rs 2,000 crore short of its target, while tax collection estimates for the next year are around Rs 5,000 crore higher.

The Opposition BJP claimed that the government would be unable to implement their schemes, even as Dikshit maintained better tax collection would easily make up for the lack of tax increases.

Of Delhi’s total budgetary expenditure of Rs 37, 450 crore, tax revenue constitutes Rs 30, 454 crore for the year 2013-14. But with the economic slowdown and inflation, Delhi’s tax revenue is around Rs 2,000 crore short of the revised estimate of Rs 25, 157 for the present fiscal.

BJP MLA and former finance minister Jadsigh Mukhi told Newsline that the government would be unable to finance its new schemes. “Value Added Tax (VAT) contributes the highest to the state’s coffers and while the target for last year was Rs 16,000 crore, only Rs 14, 507 crore was collected till March 20. Taxes fund the Delhi government. How will they implement new schemes? This is clearly an election stunt with no regard for Delhi’s financial situation,” he said.

According to the 2013-14 budget estimates, Delhi’s tax revenue target is Rs 30, 454 crore. “The government hopes to garner around Rs 5,500 crore more through taxes without any increases and their expenditure is based on

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