BHUBANESWAR: The State registered 24.46 per cent growth in GST collection during 2019-20. A collection of Rs 8,722 crore was recorded against Rs 7,008.07 crore in the previous fiscal.A similar healthy trend was observed in Central GST collection that grew from Rs 5,296.07 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 6,534.36 crore during 2019-20 registering a growth rate of 23.38 pc.
The collection of cess has shown a marginal growth of 1.44 pc with collection of Rs 5,722.58 crore against a figure of Rs 5,641.41 crore achieved during 2018-19.However, growth in Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) continued to show negative trend with a collection of Rs 8,707.38 crore in 2019-20 against Rs 9,006.15 crore collected during 2018-19 with a negative growth rate of 3.32 pc.
The adverse impact of Covid-19 can be seen from the fact that for March (month-on-month basis), the gross GST collection has remain stagnant (0.27 percent) which was showing healthier growth earlier.
However, in view of better performance in the earlier months, the annual gross GST collection (CGST, IGST, SGST and CESS) during the last fiscal 2019-20 showed a positive growth of 10.11 pc with collection of Rs 29,677.26 crore against Rs 26,951.7 crore collected in the previous financial year.
The annual growth rate of 24.46 pc for SGST achieved by Odisha is the highest growth rate among the major states. This was possible mainly due to better compliance, stricter enforcement measures undertaken and better coverage of taxpayers.In 2019-20, 49,249 new taxpayers were brought to the fold of GST in the State, said Commissioner Commercial Tax and GST S K Lohani.
Among non-GST revenue sources, collection of VAT on petroleum products was Rs 5,679.25 crore registering a marginal growth of 0.18 pc. Similarly, collection of VAT on alcoholic beverages for human consumption during 2019-20 was Rs 1,767.44 crore registering a growth rate of 8.37 pc.
The professional tax collection also showed a growth rate of 5.54 pc with collection of Rs 215.10 crore. The Government has announced a number of measures to provide relief to tax payers suffering due to outbreak of Covid-19, Lohani said.
