Mumbai: With revenue collection under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for November and December, 2017, having dropped as compared to earlier months, the state government has demanded Rs 1,672 crore as compensation for the dip in revenue. The revenue collection of the state averages was Rs 9500 crore.
An official from the state finance department said, "In November, we collected Rs 9334 crore and in December, Rs 9315 crore. The amount is less than expected. So, we have demanded that the Centre compensate Rs 1672 crore for these two months. We are hoping that the January collection will be normal."
The official also claimed that overall GST collection was good as compared with VAT the previous year. "As compared to the VAT collection, GST collection has been better. We will achieve the target of Rs 1.5 lakh crore. There are some months when collection is low but we will recover the amount in the subsequent month. If you compare revenue collection with the 2016 VAT collection, GST collection is 31 per cent more till December," the official said.
Goods and Services Tax
However, experts have raised objection and demanded more clarity over revenue receipts. They pointed out that VAT and GST cannot be compared as both have different components.
Chartered accountant Ajit Moshi said, "The crucial question in state collection is whether it compensates the fall due to lack of share from service tax and excise collection. Also, the falling trend in the important October to December quarter is definitely a matter of concern.
Revenues can be analysed better if the government presents the revenue figure after considering input credit and inter-state impact. Nevertheless, year-on-year rise in revenue is welcome news for our state and I hope it will continue in future tomeet budget targets."
