Maharashtra collects GST of Rs 6,100 crore in 1 month
The revenue collection of Rs 6,100 crore has brought some relief for the state as it was anticipated that the collection might go down.
Mumbai: Despite various reservations about the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Maharashtra was able to collect Rs 6,100 crore against the targeted Rs 6,500 crore in the first month of July.
The remaining amount is expected to come from IGST (import duty). Now the state government will not have to ask the Centre for compensation in the first month at least. However, the finance department is being cautious and has adopted a wait-and-watch policy before coming to any conclusion.
The revenue collection of Rs 6,100 crore has brought some relief for the state as it was anticipated that the collection might go down. According to sources in the finance department, the GST collection was not expected to be so high and hence it had asked the Centre for a compensation of Rs 6500 crore.
“Looking at the GST collection, the beginning is at least good. Maharashtra could be one of the states having a good collection of GST. The remaining Rs 400-500 crore will be coming from IGST. However, we do not want to draw any conclusions at this moment and will wait for a few more months,” said a senior official from the finance department. The reasons given by the finance department for the amount of tax collected includes an increase in registration of taxpayers and Maharashtra’s consumer markets.
“There are three lakh fresh registrations for GST that must have added to the tax collection. Secondly, the state is consumer driven and a big market. Basically, the GST is paid by the end consumer. These could be the main reasons behind the GST collection figures,” the official added.
On the difficulties faced, the official said that there are complaints about compliances from traders that would be solved subsequently. “We do receive complaints from the traders about compliance. It is a new system and will take some time to evolve.
Reacting to the government stand, chartered accountant Ajit Joshi asked for clarity from the government on whether it was gross collection or net collection. “I am not sure if the collection includes credit input. The increase in number of registrations is fine. But many of them were forced to register without having clarity. This might lead to some of them withdrawing later. As for the state being a consumer-driven society, I do not agree with it. Maharashtra is a mix of a consumer based society as well as a manufacturing society. States like Gujarat and Punjab are only consumer societies. So, I would agree with the government on one point and then prefer to wait and watch,” he said
In the earlier tax system, there were 7.5 to 8 lakh registered traders. The GST regime has seen an influx of three lakh traders, taking the total of registered traders to over 10 lakh.