The collection on the Goods & Services Tax (GST) dipped to a 19-month low in September to ₹91,916 crore. The previous low was ₹85,962 crore, collected in February 2018.
The estimated budget of the collection of ₹1-lakh crore plus. Though the government is expecting consumption to pick up during the second half, it will still find it difficult to meet the fiscal deficit target as direct tax collection continues to be anaemic. Also, the recent announcements on corporate tax reduction will result in revenue foregone of ₹1.45-lakh crore.
Expert says, the lower collections reflect lower GDP growth numbers as, being a transaction tax, GST is immediately impacted by any decline in economic activity. However, the upcoming festival season will improve collections.
However, there is stricter measures against tax evasion and audits by the revenue authorities may also help improve collections.The report further says, the total gross GST collection, the CGST (Central GST) was ₹16,630 crore, SGST (State GST) ₹22,598 crore, and IGST (Integrated GST) ₹45,069 crore (including ₹22,097 crore collected on imports) and the cess collection stood at ₹7,620 crore (including ₹728 crore collected on imports).
The total revenue earned by the Centre and the State governments after regular settlement in September was ₹37,761 crore for CGST and ₹37,719 crore for SGST, the report says.
