GST Collections Down to Rs 80,808 Cr in December, Major Fiscal Impact?

The Ministry of Finance released the GST Collections in which Rs 80,808 crores are collected which is lowest since the implementation of GST. The continuous reduction in tax collection and the transition pilling is a worry for the government.

GST Collections for the Month of November

According to the Ministry of Finance, a total of Rs 80,808 crores are collected in total for the month of November in which Rs 13,089 crores are collected from CGST while Rs 18,650 crores are collected from SGST. The total collection from IGST is Rs 42,270 crores while the funds collected as compensation are Rs 7798.

Through the settlement of funds through the cross utilization of IGST to SGST and CGST, Rs 10,348 crores are transferred from IGST to CGST while Rs 14,488 crores has been transferred from IGST to SGST. This transfer also includes through interstate B2C transaction.

Thus a total of Rs 24,836 crores has been transferred from IGST to CGST and SGST by the way of settlement. Therefore the total collection for CGST is Rs 23,437 whereas the collection for SGST is Rs 33,138 crores. This collection is for the month of November till 25th December, 2017. This includes transfer by the way of settlement.

Dip in GST Collections a Sign of Worry?

The latest figure is surely a sign of worry for the government as the collection is getting lower every month. The government collected Rs 94,063 crores in July while Rs 90,669 crores were collected for the month of August. The government collected Rs 92,150 crores for the month of September and Rs 83,364 crores for the month of October. The figure has seen a constant fall.

Although Haseeb Drabu in an interview to CNBC said that

Decline in GST collections unlikely to impact the macro fiscal policy and need to get e-way bill & reverse charge mechanism started soon

The falling figure also indicates the impact of tax rationalization that took place in November where nearly 200 items saw a reduction in tax rate. The piling of transition is also a burden on the government as they have to settle the payment of dealers through ITC. The last date for the filling and revision of Trans-1 form is December 27, 2017.

The Government released an attention notice and asked the tax payers to fill the Trans-1 form or those who have filed it erroneously can amend it by Dec 27, 2017 as it is the last day.