GST compensation to states slumps 20% to Rs 119 bn in Aug-Sept

GST compensation paid to states by the Centre has declined to over Rs 119 billion during August-September, an official said.

The bi-monthly GST compensation paid during the June-July period was Rs 149.3 billion, nearly four-fold jump from Rs 38.99 billion paid in April and May.

"Over Rs 119 billion has been released to the states from GST compensation fund during August-September after regular and ad-hoc settlement of IGST fund," an official told PTI.

The government collected a record Rs 1007.1 billion from Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the month of October. The returns filed and taxes collected in October reflect purchase and sale activities of September.

The government has settled Rs 151.07 billion to states GST from Integrated GST (IGST) as regular settlement. Further, Rs 150 billion has been settled with the states from the balance IGST available with the Centre on provisional basis at the end of October.

Total revenue earned by the state governments after regular and provisional settlement was Rs 529.34 billion in October.

10 states which are facing maximum revenue shortfall during April-August are Puducherry (42 per cent), Punjab and Himachal Pradesh (36 per cent each), Uttarakhand (35 per cent), Jammu and Kashmir (28 per cent), Chhattisgarh (26 per cent), Goa (25 per cent), Odisha (24 per cent), Karnataka and Bihar (20 per cent).

The states faced an average 16 per cent shortfall in GST mop-up in the first year of implementation (July 2017-March 2018), which has come down to 13 per cent during April-August of the current fiscal.

Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has already held discussions with tax officials in six states -- Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar and Uttarakhand-- to shore up revenues.

While only six states -- Mizoram, Arunachal, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh -- are facing revenue surplus in the current fiscal, 25 states are staring at a revenue shortfall and have to be compensated by the Centre.

In 2017-18, the Centre had released Rs 411.47 billion to the states as GST compensation to ensure that the revenue of the states is protected at the level of 14 per cent over the base year tax collection in 2015-16.