Festive Season: CM Yogi Tells Tax Officials to Avoid Unnecessary Raids

As the festive season approaches, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed the State Tax Department to avoid unnecessary inspections and raids during Dhanteras and Diwali. He added, honest traders and entrepreneurs should not be disturbed at a time when business activity is at its peak.

CM Yogi Adityanath organised a meeting on Sunday to assess the State Tax Department’s revenue performance for the current financial year.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister also stressed that field postings within the department must be based strictly on performance. He directed that only officers with a clean track record and a strong commitment to achieving targets should be given key responsibilities. He further called for greater transparency and accountability across all tax zones.

The Chief Minister reviewed the performance of various zones such as Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Ayodhya, Lucknow, Kanpur, Etawah, Jhansi, Agra, Aligarh, Moradabad, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, and Saharanpur.

Officials informed the CM that by September of the 2025-26 fiscal year, the department had collected Rs. 55,000 crore, Rs. 40,000 crore from GST and Rs. 15,000 crore from VAT and other sources.

For the same period last year, collections stood at Rs. 55,136 crore. The department has been given a collection target of Rs. 1.75 lakh crore for the current fiscal year, which is Rs. 18,700 crore more than last year’s target.

The meeting also reviewed investigations into fake companies and fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) claims. So far, officials have detected Rs. 873.48 crore in fake ITC across 104 firms. However, CM Adityanath highlighted that while strict enforcement is essential, it should not inconvenience honest taxpayers, especially during festive seasons.

Performance across tax zones was discussed in detail. Zones such as Bareilly 64.2%, Saharanpur 63.7%, Meerut 63.0%, Gorakhpur 62.5%, and Jhansi 62.1% were among the better performers. However, several other zones lagged behind, achieving only around 55% of their targets.

The Chief Minister told zonal officers with less than 50% collection to explain the reason and quickly make plans to improve. He also asked senior officers to connect more with the business community by visiting markets, doing surveys, and talking to traders to understand their problems.

He highlighted the need to increase GST registrations and ensure timely filing of returns as part of a broader effort to widen the tax base and strengthen compliance.

CM Adityanath said that making things easy and fair for taxpayers is key to growing revenue. He asked for a system that supports taxpayers and stressed the need to improve online services in the department. He said transparency, accountability and integrity must remain the guiding principles of revenue collection in the state.