Commercial tax collection in Odisha rose 12 per cent in the April-February period of 2013-14, driven by growth in segments like entry tax, value added tax (VAT) and entertainment tax.

The overall commercial tax totaled to Rs 10,279.10 crore by the end of February compared to Rs 9,181.10 crore in the year ago period. The state government has set a commercial revenue collection target of Rs 13,176.09 crore for 2013-14.

In the period under review, VAT rose from Rs 7,319.90 crore to Rs 8,197.10crore, registering a growth of 11.98 per cent. Entry tax, too, posted a healthy growth of 18.53 per cent to Rs 1,327.54 crore from Rs 1,120 crore. Odisha Entertainment Tax (OET) and Odisha Luxury Tax (OLT) clocked 34.2 percent growth from Rs 8.55 crore to Rs 11.48 crore. Professional tax increased by 7.66 per cent from Rs 110.34 crore to Rs 118.80 crore.

Collection from Central sales tax (CST) at Rs 624.16 crore, was tad higher than Rs 622.29 crore in the previous corresponding period.

All commercial tax zones with the exception of Bolangir and Koraput posted positive growth in tax collection.

Commercial tax for the month of February alone stood at Rs 1,181.78 crore, 10.89per cent higher than Rs 1,065.76 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal.