Central GST falls short of budget estimate by 40% in April-November quarter

The Central GST collection fell short of the budget estimate by nearly 40% during the April-November period of 2019-20, according to the data presented in Parliament on Monday (December 9).

The actual CGST collection during April-November stood at ₹3,28,365 crore while the budgeted estimate is of ₹5,26,000 crore for these months, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said in a written reply in Lok Sabha. The minister added that the data was, however, provisional.

In 2018-19, the actual CGST collection stood at ₹4,57,534 crore as against the provisional estimate of ₹6,03,900 crore for the year, he said. In 2017-18, the CGST collection was ₹2,03,261 crore.

The minister said that 999 cases were registered till October in the current fiscal for GST evasion and ₹8,134.39 crore has been recovered. During 2018-19, a total of ₹19,395.26 crore was recovered (1,473 cases) and in 2017-18, the recovery was of ₹757.81 crore (148 cases).

Also read: After 3-month gap, GST collection crosses ₹1 lakh crore in November

For strengthening monitoring tools to prevent GST evasion, emphasis has been laid on system-based analytical tools and system generated intelligence, Thakur said. “In this connection, the Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM) has been set up by the CBIC. Further, E-way bill squads have been activated for the purposes of random verification of the goods in transit,” he said.

The minister also informed the house that it has inserted a new CGST rule which enforces a restriction that the input tax credit (ITC) availed by a taxpayer shall not exceed 20% of the eligible credit available with respect to invoices or debit notes.

The capping of ITC would lead to a reduction in cases of fraudulent ITC availment as well as increase in payment of tax through cash thereby boosting GST collection, Thakur said.