Centre collects Rs 380 billion as compensation cess between July and Nov

The government on Friday said it has collected over Rs 380 billion between July and November by levying cess on luxury and demerit goods under the goods and services tax (GST) regime.

A cess is levied on these goods to help cover the loss suffered by the states on account of roll out of the GST regime. This is levied on top of the highest tax rate of 28 per cent on these goods. GST was implemented from July 1, 2017.

The government through GST compensation cess has collected a revenue of Rs 380 billion for July-November, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. Of this, Rs 72 billion was collected for July, Rs 78 billion for August, Rs 80 billion for September, Rs 71 billion for October and Rs 78 billion for November. Jaitley further said that the Centre has released Rs 24 billion to the states to compensate for losses. Karnataka got maximum compensation from the Centre at Rs 32 billion, followed by Gujarat (Rs 22 billion) and Punjab (Rs 21 billion).