GST TOPS JULY TARGET, GOVT NETS ₹92,283 CR IN TAX RECEIPTS

NEWDELHI: The goods and service tax (GST), launched on July 1, has got off to a good start, with collections exceeding the revenue target for the first month.

And this is when a third of the tax payers are yet to submit their returns and tender their tax dues. The government is cautiously optimistic that GST revenues will stay on course for the remaining eight months of 2017-18.

Addressing a press conference, finance minister Arun Jaitley disclosed that in July, ₹92,283 crore had been received as GST receipts from 3.9 million tax payers, compared with the target of ₹91,000 crore. “At least the red line seems to have been crossed. Technically, with 64.42% of tax payers’ compliance, we have exceeded target.”

GST levied on supply of goods and services has two equal components—central GST (CGST) and state GST (SGST). Tax on inter-state commerce called integrated GST (IGST), too, has two equal components, the proceeds of which go to Union government and to the state where the product or service is finally consumed.

The minister clarified that in addition to the 7.2 million tax payers who migrated to GST from the earlier tax regime, an extra 1.8 million new assessees have been added. Of this, however, only 5.9 million were due to file their returns by August 25. This is because 3.1 million assessees include those who were registered in August as well as some who opted for a liberal quarterly tax payment scheme. From this, only 3.8 million paid taxes by the August 25 deadline. Those who missed the deadline can pay up, but will be charged a nominal late fee of ₹100 per day separately for central and state GST.