Maharashtra finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on Thursday indicated that there will not be any new tax burden on the common man. Instead, the government will try to increase revenue from non-tax income sources by increasing court fees, with hefty charges for violation of traffic rules, and use of FSI or transfer of development of rights (TDR).

The logic behind not increasing direct taxes is the Goods and Services Tax (GST) coming into effect from July. "There is no point in putting an additional tax burden on the common man for three months. Instead, the state government plans to focus on non-tax revenue sources as GST will replace all other taxes from July," Mungantiwar told TOI. He will present the state budget for 2017-18 before the state legislative assembly, while minister of state Deepak Kesarkar will present it in the legislative council on Saturday.

Mungantiwar has issued instructions to secretaries of departments which may play a major role in increasing non-tax revenue of the state. "After the budget, I will call them every Wednesday to discuss options of collecting or increasing non-tax revenue like increase in charges for violation of traffic rules. People will learn to follow rules. Mopping up revenue on lotteries, court fees, revenue collection on lease lands, charging more for the use of floor space index (FSI) or transfer of development of rights (TDR) are other options," he said.
Last year, non-tax revenue income was Rs 15,000 crore, which he expects to increase to Rs 25,000 crore next year.