At Rs 1,264 crore, Kerala’s GST revenue in June offers hope

However, a comparison with the past two months shows a recovery trend in revenues.
For representational purposes.
For representational purposes.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala’s GST revenue in June signals a recovery trend in the trade sector. The gross revenue stood at Rs  1,264 crore while it was Rs  692 crore in May and Rs  370 crore in April.June’s figure is low when compared to the Rs  1,730 crore in the previous year. However, a comparison with the past two months shows a recovery trend in revenues.

The GST collection for April was Rs  370 crore which was 21.77 pc of the Rs  1,699.25  crore collection in April last year. The collection in May was Rs  692 crore which was 43.95 pc of the Rs  1574.48 crore collection in previous May. In June the collection was Rs  1264 crore, 73.06 pc of the previous year’s Rs  1,730 crore.

However, the total collection in the first quarter of this fiscal, Rs  2326 crore, is only 46.49% of previous year’s figure of Rs  5,003.73 crore.

“June’s figure is less when compared to the previous year. But there is a jump when compared to the previous months hinting an early recovery of the economy. This is despite the fact that several trade and businesses had remained closed or functioned for lesser hours due to region-wise covid-19 restrictions,” said an officer with the state GST department.

He also pointed out that the amount may be bigger in the final tally since the return filing date has been extended till September 30. The early signs of recovery may come crashing if the pandemic situation worsens, he warned.

GST compensation
The state government has opposed the Central government’s plan to alter the GST compensation framework. Recently Finance Minister Thomas Isaac told TNIE that the state will move the Supreme Court if the Centre goes back on its commitment to pay compensation to states. He was responding to reports that the Centre informed a parliam-entary panel that it was unable to continue the compensation due to the Covid-19 slowdown. Isaac hoped that the proposal would be opposed by all states in the GST council, including BJP governments.

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