First GST return filing earns govt Rs 42K crore so far

New Delhi: As much as Rs 42,000 crore has already come in as taxes so far in the first monthly filing under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and the revenues are expected to swell further as the filing cycle closes this later this week.

A senior official said that about Rs 15,000 crore has come in as Integrated-GST, which is levied on inter-state movement of goods, and another Rs 5,000 crore by way of cess on demerit goods like cars and tobacco.

The remaining Rs 22,000 crore has come in as Central-GST and State-GST, which would be split equally between the Union and state government. "Tax deposited till this morning was Rs 42,000 crore," the official said.

So far, 10 lakh tax payers have filed returns and another 20 lakh have logged in and saved return forms. "We are seeing good compliance and our estimation is that 90-95 per cent of the assesses will file returns and pay taxes," he said.

Under the GST regime, which was implemented from July 1, businesses are expected to file the monthly tax return. Tax for the first month is to be filed by an extended deadline of August 25. The deadline was extended as the tax return filing website snapped just a day before the due date ended on August 20.

GST unifies more than a dozen central and state levies including excise duty, service tax and VAT, and the revenue generated is to be split equally between the Centre and states.

In July last year, Rs 31,782 crore of excise duty was collected and Rs 19,600 crore of service tax. Estimate for the combined sales tax or VAT collection by states was available.

While 72 lakh assessees of the old indirect tax regime have migrated to the GST Network portal, nearly 50 lakh have completed the migration process.

Besides, of the 15 lakh fresh registrations that have happened, as many as 10 lakh are expected to file returns for July. A total of 60 lakh businesses are expected to file returns and pay taxes for July, the official added.

As per the GST law, any registered person who fails to furnish the details of outward or inward supplies or returns required by the due date will have to pay a late fee of Rs 100 for -- every day during which such failure continues subject to a -- maximum amount of Rs 5,000.

Besides, every person who fails to pay the tax within the period prescribed, shall for the period for which the tax or any part thereof remains unpaid, will be required to pay interest at 18 per cent from the day succeeding the day on which such tax was due to be paid.

The collections from customs duty and IGST from imports post-implementation of GST have almost doubled to Rs 30,000 crore in July.

This compares to indirect tax collection of over Rs 16,000 crore of the same month of 2016.