It is yet again going to be a tough month of revenue receipts for the central government as goods and services tax (GST) collections are likely to fall below the monthly average of Rs 1.14 lakh crore. According to officials, “GST collections for July are subdued and as of the date the collections have crossed Rs 90,000 crore mark.”
GST Collections had dipped below the notional Rs one lakh crore mark for the month of May, for which the collections were recorded in June for the first time this fiscal. The total GST mop-up stood at Rs 99, 939 crores in May. The collections, however, had picked up for the month of June, which were recorded in July, at Rs 1,02,083 crore. Meanwhile, officials say that “by the end of August the collections are likely to reach Rs 95-97000 crore.”
Some of the major reasons cited for a slump in the collections are “declining imports, traditionally low July collections, coupled with floods impacting the return filing and sector-specific slowdown especially in sectors like auto and real estate,” officials added.
The officials explained, “Slipping imports lead to low IGST collections from imports. Floods have also impacted the return filing which is why the government has extended the deadline for monthly returns in the flood-affected areas. Also, July collections traditionally remain low and in the last fiscal, July collections were lowest in the entire year at Rs 93,960 crore. The government has also started getting initial feelers of sector-specific slowdown impacting GST collections especially in sectors like auto and real estate.” The final figures for July will be released by the government officials in September.
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