Finance Minister Says GST Collection of States has Risen to ₹ 5.18 Trillion in FY19

Source: Business Standard

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that GST collection of states and union territories (UTs) has increased to ₹ 5.18 trillion in FY 2018-19, up from ₹ 2.91 trillion collected in nine months of 2017-18. In addition, Centre has released ₹ 81,177 crore compensation to states during 2018-19, as against ₹ 48,178 crores during July-March period of 2017-18 fiscal.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said concerted efforts have been made to improve tax compliance.

She stated, “The GST collection of the states/UTs has been showing steady improvement over the period of time. In addition, they are also assured the growth of 14 percent for a period of five years through the payment of compensation by the central government.”

“The total GST collection of the states/UTs for 2018-19 stood at ₹ 5,18,447 crore against GST collection of ₹ 2,91,100 crore in 2017-18. Extensive automation of business processes, application of e-way bill mechanism, targeted action on compliance verification, enforcement based on risk assessment and the proposed introduction of electronic invoice system are the steps taken for increasing the revenue collection,” she further added.

Goods and Services Tax (GST), which subsumed 17 local taxes, was rolled out from July 1, 2017. The average gross GST collection in 2018-19 fiscal was ₹ 98,114 crore, up from ₹ 89,885 crores in 2017-18.