Governor Nand Kishore Yadav during a review meeting with the Department of State Taxes held at Lok Bhavan, Kohima on August 10. (Photo Courtesy: PRO Lok Bhavan, Nagaland)
• Records 530% GST growth since 2017
• Recovers Rs 17 crore in petroleum arrears
• Sets ambitious Rs 50,000 crore tax target by 2063
Kohima, August 10 (MExN): Nagaland’s tax revenue collection rose to Rs 1,597.51 crore in 2025-26, up Rs 170.47 crore from the previous fiscal, Governor Nand Kishore Yadav was informed during a review meeting with the Department of State Taxes here on Monday.
The meeting, held at Lok Bhavan, Kohima on August 10 saw the department make a detailed presentation on its organisational structure, revenue performance, initiatives, achievements, challenges and future roadmap, a press statement from PRO Lok Bhavan, Nagaland said.
The department informed the Governor that total tax collection increased from Rs 1,427.03 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 1,597.51 crore in 2025-26, registering a growth substantially higher than the Rs 68.05 crore increase recorded the previous year, it said.
For the first quarter of 2026-27 (April-June), the department reported tax collection of Rs 466.98 crore, an increase of Rs 23.96 crore over the corresponding period last year, the statement said.
A five-year revenue trajectory presented at the meeting showed total tax revenue rising from Rs 1,122.71 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 1,597.51 crore in 2025-26, marking an 11.9% per cent year-on-year growth in the last fiscal.
GST remained the largest component of the state's tax revenue, contributing Rs 1,181.88 crore or 74 per cent in 2025-26. GST collection, comprising SGST and IGST, grew from Rs 187.57 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 1,181.88 crore in 2025-26, a growth of 530 per cent, the department said. GST collection for the current financial year stood at Rs 450.35 crore up to July 2026.
The department also stated that Nagaland recorded GST revenue growth of 37 per cent up to December 2025 and 28.4 per cent for 2025-26, both higher than the corresponding all-India averages.
The department currently has 11,592 active registered taxpayers across four zones — Dimapur, Kohima, Mokokchung and Chümoukedima. “Its core activities include registration, ensuring timely filing and proper payment of taxes, scrutiny of returns, audit, enforcement, adjudication and recovery, appeals, refunds, and tax education and awareness,” the statement said.
Several initiatives to improve tax administration and compliance were highlighted, including G-RAMS (GST Returns and Adjudication Management System), online TCC application, online registration and payment of Professional Tax, N-GAIN (Nagaland GST Analytics and Intelligence Network), GST awareness campaigns, market surveys, compliance checks and GST Registration Data Cleansing–Compliance Assessment & Market Survey (GRDC-CAMS), it said.
Enforcement measures include inspection drives against fake invoices and registrations, inventory checks, and the opening of a counter at the Railway Parcel Office to track movement of goods, besides coordination between Central GST and State GST authorities, the department said.
Among the major achievements cited were the development of an in-house digital Professional Tax platform, recovery of Rs 17 crore in petroleum arrears as of August 6, 2026, and Nagaland being ranked first in the Northeast and 16th in India for the launch of Biometric Aadhaar Authentication Registration.
The department apprised the Governor of key operational challenges, including shortage of manpower, the need for continuous upgradation of IT infrastructure, increasing workload from taxpayer registrations and return filings, and the growing volume of GST data requiring scrutiny and risk assessment.
Enforcement challenges include detection of unregistered taxpayers and tax evasion, field verification of high-risk taxpayers, and monitoring of works contracts, interstate transactions and other revenue-sensitive sectors, it said, adding that there was a need to dispel the historical resistance towards payment of taxes and promote tax compliance as a “people's movement.”
Under its “Vision 2063 and Beyond”, the department has set revenue milestones of over Rs 2,400 crore by 2030, over Rs 5,000 crore by 2038, over Rs 11,000 crore by 2047, and over Rs 50,000 crore by 2063, envisioning a robust, transparent and dynamic revenue ecosystem, the statement said.
Seven key growth drivers were identified for achieving these milestones — expansion and restructuring of the department, state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, constitution of a State Revenue Board, training and capacity building, making tax compliance a people's movement, establishment of a legal cell, and provision of basic conveyance and accommodation support for officers and staff.
The review meeting was part of the Governor's ongoing assessment of the functioning and performance of various state government departments and was attended by Finance Commissioner Kesonyu Yhome, IAS, and other officials of the State Taxes Department.
