GST kitty rose 3.7% in first eight months of this fiscal

THE GOVERNMENT IS MAKING EFFORTS TO COLLECT ABOUT ~12.6 LAKH CRORE OF GST IN 2019-20

NEW DELHI: Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection rose 3.7% year-on-year to ~8.05 lakh crore in the first eight months of the current financial year, until November 30, despite a slowdown in consumption and sluggish economic growth, according to a presentation made in the GST Council last week.

Growth in revenue collection would have been stronger but for a 6.8% slump in the import component of the integrated GST (IGST) collection during the period, according to the presentation, made during the 38th meeting of the council on December 18.

Total IGST (imports), including compensation cess, in AprilNovember 2019, was ~1.90 lakh crore compared to ~2.04 lakh crore in the same period last year. Imports of goods and services are treated as inter-state supplies and attract IGST.

The government is making efforts to collect about ~12.6 lakh crore of GST in 2019-20, which is about ~90,000 crore more than in the previous financial year, two officials with direct knowledge of the matter said, requesting anonymity. To be sure, this is also the GST collection as estimated by the Union Budget. This includes the total GST and the state GST. Total GST -- Central GST, Integrated GST and GST compensation cess combined -- was estimated at ~6.63 lakh crore for the year. According to the government, collections were trailing marginally behind target last month.

“The Budget Estimates for Central GST for 2019-20 has been fixed at ~6,63,343 crore. The actual net GST collection for the Centre till October 2019 in the current fiscal year is ~3,26,490 crore,” junior minister of finance Anurag Singh Thakur said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha in November.

The revenue department last week gave a collection target of ~4.55 lakh crore to the GST field team in the remaining four months of the current financial year.