GST helped States earn 24% more than the old regime, says FM Sitharaman
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that states had received nearly 24 per cent more revenue from the Goods & Services Tax (GST) in the last six years compared to the erstwhile Value Added Tax/Sales Tax system.
“Without GST, states’ revenue from subsumed taxes from FY19 to 2023-24 would have been Rs. 37.5 lakh crore. With GST, states’ actual revenue amounted to Rs. 46.56 lakh crore,” she said on social media. The FM was underlining two major milestones -- First, collection from GST exceeded Rs. 2 lakh crore in April. Second, with the appointment of retired Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra as President, the formation of GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) was set in motion
The government introduced GST on July 1, 2017, by subsuming 17 taxes and 13 cesses administered by the Centre and States/Union Territories with the legislature. The FM said GST has improved tax buoyancy from 0.72 (pre-GST) to 1.22 (2018-23). Despite compensation ending, state revenues remain buoyant at 1.15. “Despite the GST rate being less than the prescribed Revenue Neutral Rate and Covid-19 affecting the revenues, GST collections (as a percentage of GDP) have now reached the levels they were before GST (both net and gross),” she said.
