GST revenue growth in 2018-19 to match last 10 years’ indirect tax growth, says SBI report

The goods and services tax collection would grow at a rate of 14 percent to 16 percent for FY18-19, IANS said citing SBI Ecowrap report. The report described the GST collection targets estimated for the ongoing fiscal and the next fiscal as ‘overtly aggressive’. The report also says that at a growth rate of 14 percent to 16 percent, the GST collection growth would be closer to the decadal growth rate in indirect taxes of under 14 percent. The Rs 7.4 lakh crore of the estimated collection target is 67 percent higher than the revised estimates for FY17-18, IANS quoted citing the report titled, ‘The Arithmetic of GST Collections.’ The GST for FY19 for the 9 months’ estimates can be pegged at 15.8 percent, the report said. The revised GST regime was implemented from July last year, the GST receipts will be for only 9 months during the ongoing fiscal.

The gross IGST collections stand at nearly Rs 4.01 lakh crore in FY18. Of the total IGST collections, 60 percent has been transferred to the states and the remaining Rs 1.61 lakh crore are shown in revised estimates for FY18, the report said. The gross tax revenue is pegged to grow by 16.7 percent in the FY18-19 to Rs 19.1 lakh crore, the report added. The estimated amount will be supported by 10.2 percent growth in corporation tax and 20.4 percent surge in personal income tax.

Meanwhile, the GST collections for the month of January plunged marginally to Rs 86,318 crore against Rs 86,703 crore in the last month against expectations of lower revenue. There were speculations that lower than expected GST revenue for January may force the government to quicken the implementation of anti-evasion measures. The government has announced a few days back that it’s the right time now to introduce anti-evasion measures such as invoice-matching and e-way bill that is scheduled to be rolled out from the month of April. There were also speculations that slow down in GST collections may lead to stricter vigil of residual transitional credits and a stagnated speed in refunding the tax to the exporters.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/economy/gst-revenue-in-2018-19-to-match-decadal-growth-rate-in-indirect-taxes-sbi-research/1088711/