West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra has said that unpaid goods and service tax (GST) shortfall compensation to states stood at ₹74,398 crore for 2020-21.
“States’ own revenues are in dire distress with a growth of -3% during…2020-21,” he further said. The gap between protected revenue and revenue collected has ballooned to ₹2,75,606 crore, he added.
We are passing through dangerous times for the GST regime itself, when states’ own revenues are in dire distress with a growth of (-) 3% during FY 2020-21. The gap between protected revenue and revenue collected has ballooned to Rs 2,75,606 crore.
The actual compensation due to the states for 2020-21 has reached Rs 74,398 crores,” Mitra wrote in a letter to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Fraudulent transactions hit a peak of Rs 70,000 crore according to Nandan Nilekani’s presentation to the GST Council, he added.
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Many of us as ministers are also concerned that the GST Implementation Committee (GIC) consisting of officers, from a few states and mainly from the Gol, have started amending rules and presenting them only for the information of the GST Council — not for discussion and ratification,” he added
Speaking to FE recently, Kerala finance minster KN Balagopal said that the weighted average GST rate declined to 11.5% or thereabouts (against the revenue neutral rate estimated of over 15%), causing loss of revenue. “Cooperative federalism is at stake. GST hasn’t yielded the promised revenue productivity. Let us at least learn from experience and restructure the tax.
