India, homing the policy of ‘One Nation One Tax‘ has announced the results of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) collection in August 2019 which was aggregated at Rs. 98,202 Crore. The sum this year was 4.51% more than the previous year (Rs. 93,960 Crore) but is still a concern for the government as its expectations were not less than 1 Trillion
As far as the statistics are concerned the overall GST revenue is Rs. 98,202 Crore in which CGST holds Rs. 17,773 Crore, SGST holds Rs. 24,239 Crore and highest among the three is IGST at Rs. 48,958 Crore and the cess is Rs. 7,273 Crores. The value of GSTR 3B tax return ( the summarised return form filled in the month of July up to 31 August) is aggregated to Rs. 75.8 Lakhs.
Tax experts justified the fact that indirect tax collection in the month of August is depressed because of the seasonal factors and should not be seen as an impression of consumption slowdown. They further revealed that the department witnesses hike in its collection starting from October.
Read Also: Even Backward States Performed Well in GST Collections
“One-month data cannot indicate business reality,” said Amit Bhagat, Partner, indirect tax practice, Dhruva Advisors.
Taxpayers are concerned about the pace with which the government is meeting the GST collection targets. However, the Sarkaar still sees a complete revenue payoff to be far from accomplishment task but is expecting further growth in the collection in the coming period.
Influentials said that “The Onset of the festive season (October) witnesses the hike in the country’s consumption scale which in return shows higher tax collection”. So it’s worth to see how October – December period rolls out to be.
GST Collections, despite being higher than last year, didn’t makeup to the expectations of the governance. Meeting the fiscal budget and other finances will become a challenge for the government with this GST payoff. Apart from that, it would be a misfortune for the Centre as it is liable to compensate states for revenue shortfall and also the revenue dept. which will be under pressure to meet the burdensome targets.
Recommended: Only 1 Month Gap for Filing GSTR 9, 9A & 9C Returns of 2 FY’s
Statistics reveal that Rs. 27,955 Crore was released to states as GST compensation for the month of June – July 2019.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last month predicted the GST collections to go down based on the interim budget presented in February. GST considered as India’s biggest economic reform included 17 different taxes and 13 cesses for India.
