oppn parties GST: A December of Joy

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  • India becomes the first country in the world to make flashing of anti-tobacco warning on shows on OTT platforms
  • BJP says that by targeting PM Modi on his visits abroad, Rahul Gandhi is denting India's image
  • Nepalese Prime Minister PK Dahal Prachanda arrived in India on a 4-day official visit in whihc border issues and several others contentious issues will be discussed
  • Even as Home minister Amit Shah tours Manipur and holds peace talks, violence continues in the state after a lull of one day
  • PM Modi says that boycott of Parliament inauguration by some opposition parties was an insult to the nation
  • Allahabad HC upholds Varanasi district judge's order that petition for worshipping Shringar Gauri in Gyanvapi mosque is maintainable and can be heard
  • Rahul Gandhi says if PM Modi were to meet God, he is such a 'specimen' and know-all that he would start explaining to God how the universe functions
  • Deloitte raises flags in Adani Ports' dealing with three entities regarding disclosure of facts
  • Centre meets the fiscal target of 6.4% in FY23
  • Data released by NSO shows India's GDP grew at 6.1% in Q4 and 7.2% in the full year in FY23
  • IOC takes cognizance of police action on wrestlers, asks IOA to protect athletes
  • World Rapid Chess champion Magnus Carlsen says India is doing a lot of right things and will soon emerge as a powerhouse nation in chess with scores of talented youngsters
  • Thai Open badminton: PV Sindhu & K Srikanth ousted, but Kiran George stuns third seed Shi Yu Qi 21-18, 22-20
  • The lone Congress MLA in West Bengal, Bayron Biswas from Sagardihi, who won in a byelection recently, joins Trinamool, Congress says such 'poaching' not good for opposition unity
  • PM Modi says every move of his government is guided by the wish to improve the lives of the people
Excellent GDP growth: Q4 at 6.1% and FY23 at 7.2%, beats all estimates
oppn parties
GST: A December of Joy

By Ashwini Agarwal
First publised on 2021-02-01 02:19:35

As the finance minister rises to present the Union Budget for 2021-22, the buoyancy in indirect tax collections in the last four months would give her a lot of leeway amidst the gloom of the pandemic and the shortfall in other targets set last year. GST collections and filings for December have broken all records with over Rs 1.20 lakh crore collected and over 90 lakh returns filed in the month.

While experts have pointed out that a part of it is due to the fact that more annual returns were filed and businesses squared up their yearly taxes, there can now be no denying the fact that the economy is reviving well and the government's efforts in simplifying GST processes, combined with big data analysis to prevent fraud and avoidance, has resulted in better compliance which has in turn improved collection.

Anything above Rs 1 lakh crore ensures that the Centre pays the dues of the states on time and development work is not delayed. But since the average collection of the last four months have been over Rs 1.10 lakh crore, the Centre has been in the position to clear back dues also. This is a very happy situation and confirms the faith the Centre showed in the solidity of the Indian economy. Since other economic indicators are also showing positivity, experts predict that the GST collections will be soaring for the next few months.

This also means that the much-criticized GST regime is now stabilizing. The government must watch the situation closely and bring petroleum products and liquor under the regime now to make it truly one India one tax regime. It has been analyzing the data from GST returns, IT returns and Customs and must redouble efforts to prevent fraud and leakage and improve collections further. Later, the GST Council must think about having just three slabs and no exemptions so that everyone has to file returns and cross verification of data is possible in each and every case.