GST collection rises in Sept, still short of ₹1 lakh cr monthly target

Revenue collections from the goods and services tax (GST) rose to ₹94,442 crore in September but is still short of the ₹1 lakh crore monthly target set by the government.

GST revenues in August were ₹93,690 crore.

The shortfall in collections will increase the government’s dependence on direct tax collections to meet its fiscal deficit target for 2018-19.

A slew of tax rate cuts along with lack of adequate measures to check tax evasion, including invoice matching, have contributed to GST revenues missing the monthly collection targets.

The slow pick-up in revenue collections under GST has been a cause of concern for the government, with central tax officials touring states to discover the underlying reasons for it.

In the first six months of 2018-19, monthly GST collections averaged ₹96,283 crore, a monthly shortfall of around ₹3,700 crore so far.

The government hopes that the festive season demand will boost consumption and help in higher revenue collection in the second half of the fiscal. However, this is unlikely to bridge the shortfall of the first half of the fiscal.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley hinted last week that the government might miss the budgeted GST collection targets but had expressed confidence of meeting the fiscal deficit of 3.3% of gross domestic product.

The government has put in a spate of anti-tax evasion measures such as the e-way bill and tax collection at source to check leakages in GST. A few more measures, like invoice matching, are on the anvil.