BHUBANESWAR: With a clear picture about the GST regime yet to emerge because of the glitches in its implementation, indirect tax collection is coming down giving worries to both the Centre and the State Government.
Official sources maintained that collection under the GST which was Rs 472 crore in July has come down to Rs 451 crore in August. The GST collection in subsequent months has been varying between Rs 300 and Rs 320 crore per month.
The sources, however, maintained that the GST transfer through settlement during July and August was Rs 182 crore and Rs 252 crore respectively. Revenue under the GST was Rs 654 crore and Rs 702 crore respectively in July and August and increased later on. The new tax regime was rolled out across the state from July 1, 2017.
The Centre has to protect the monthly revenue collection of Rs 1194 crore. The monthly revenue collection has been projected by the State Government taking 2015-16 as the base year. The shortfall in GST collection has been on an average 45 per cent which has to be compensated by the Centre. In the GST regime, any shortfall in tax revenue would be compensated by the Centre for next five years.
Petroleum and alcohol products, stamps and registration are, however, yet to be brought under the purview of the GST.
The compliance cost of the new tax regime is high for many traders and business establishments and for some, the procedure is complicated. Official sources said it will take some more time for the traders to be familiar with the new processes and the requirements under GST, especially with regard to compliance and filings.
According to the State Budget, revenue receipts from all sources have been estimated at Rs 88,931.52 crore during 2017-18 while it was Rs 74,299.39 crore in 2016-17. Out of the total revenue receipts, the State Government has targeted to collect Rs 36,740 crore from own tax and non-tax revenue sources.
While the own tax revenue target was fixed at Rs 27,200 crore, the own non-tax revenue collection target is Rs 9,540 crore. Collection of tax revenue was Rs 13,844.73 crore upto September last.
