The message about ‘economic activity during lockdown’ is clear. Tax exchequer is in direct proportion to the volume of economic activity undertaken in a particular period of time. Things are worse than the previous month but better than the lockdown of the first Corona Pandemic in the same month of 2020.
The restrictions that have been announced to put on vigilance on the second wave of Covid were down on most sectors excepting agriculture, construction, manufacturing and other essential services.
GST collections that were received in April mirrors the transactions that have been made in March. However, receipts of tax in the month of May mirrors the transactions after the lockdown-like restriction had begun.
As per the latest reports, GST collections diminished from Rs 22,012 crore in the month of April to Rs 13,399 crore in May i.e. a fall in the relative revenue collection by Rs 8,130 crore.
“There has been a decline in consumption especially since the non-essential retail sector and malls were closed. Even non-essential e-commerce activity was closed. This is reflected in GST collections, commented by a senior official.”
Nevertheless, GST collections in the state are much more than they were during the harsh national lockdown of the first corona pandemic last year when virtually all sectors were closed. The collection from GST (Goods and Services Tax) in the month of May is 59% more than the corresponding period last year. The receipts in the month of May 2020 were Rs 8,426 crore.
The GST collection of this year since April stands at Rs 35,412.5 crore. The said amount is higher than the same period last year by a sheer 172%. By doing a comparison, the receipts in Maharashtra between April and May 2020 during the national lockdown were achieved at Rs 13,012 crore.
Recalling history in a hurry, Maharashtra had closed the pandemic-struck year of 2020-21 with the GST collections that were 11% lower in figures as compared to 2019. As per the Data released, it clearly shows that the state obtained 1.6 lakh crore worth of GST in the year 2020-21 as compared to 1.8 lakh crore in 2019-20. The receipts had fallen by Rs 20,609 crore. The state of Maharashtra has been building pressure on the Centre to settle its pending GST compensation dues, which currently stands at Rs 24,000 crore.
It is worthwhile mentioning here that When the Maharashtra Budget was tabled on March 8, ‘the target for SGST collections’ were revised. Though the target of the government of Maharashtra for the year 2020-21 had been put at Rs 1 lakh crore, the aforesaid state had only collected Rs 88,000 crore.
