GST compensation due to states at Rs 1.51 lakh cr, Maharashtra leads

GST collection during April-August declined on account of COVID-19 induced lockdown, and compensation due to states stands at over Rs 1.51 lakh crore, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said on Monday.

provisional GST compensation due to states/UTs for 2020-21 was highest for Maharashtra at Rs 22,485 crore, followed by Karnataka (Rs 13,763 crore), Uttar Presh (Rs 11,742 crore), Gujarat (Rs 11,563 crore) and Tamil Nu (Rs 11,269 crore).

compensation due to West Bengal stands at Rs 7,750 crore, Kerala (Rs 7,077 crore), Punjab (Rs 6,959 crore), Delhi (Rs 6,931 crore), Rajasthan (Rs 6312 crore), Telangana (Rs 5,424 crore) and Chhattisgarh (Rs 2,827 crore).

total provisional GST compensation due to 31 states and UTs for 2020-21 put toger stands at Rs 1,51,365 crore, as per data shared in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Thakur said issue of pending compensation and future course of action to meet shortfall was discussed in 41st GST Council meeting on August 27 wherein states were given two options to meet ir GST compensation shortfall for current fiscal year from market borrowing.

"It was also decided that states will give ir preference views reon. reafter on finalisation of scheme, states can choose eir Option 1 or Option 2 and accordingly, ir compensation, borrowing, repayment etc will be dealt as per ir individual choice," he ded.

In current fiscal year, states are staring at a staggering Rs 2.35 lakh crore Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue shortfall.

Of this, as per Centre's calculation, about Rs 97,000 crore is on account of GST implementation and rest Rs 1.38 lakh crore is due to impact of COVID-19 on states' revenues.

Centre late last month gave two options to states to borrow eir Rs 97,000 crore from a special window facilitated by RBI or Rs 2.35 lakh crore from market and also proposed extending compensation cess levied on luxury, demerit and sin goods beyond 2022 to repay borrowing.

In reply to a separate question, Thakur said total net GST target for Centre has been pegged at Rs 6,90,500 crore for 2020-21 in Union Budget.

actual net GST collection for Centre till August 2020 is Rs 1,81,050 crore, which shows 26.2 per cent of Budget Estimates(BE).

" BEs for FY 2020-21 of GST in Union Budget, 2020-21 were projected on basis of assumption of higher growth of GDP, however as per CSO, MoS&PI ... minal GDP for Q1 (April-June), 2020-21 shows a contraction of 22.6 per cent which is one of major reasons for revenue shortfall in GST."

"Or reasons for low tax collection inter-alia include nationwide lockdown measures implemented since March 2020 consequent to global COVID-19 pandemic which led to limited ecomic activities, extension of GST return filings timelines without payment of interest, late fee or penalty etc," Thakur said.

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