Notwithstanding the economy slowdown, the target set for Customs and GST during the financial year for Andhra Pradesh is likely to be achieved by March 31. However, the COVID-19 threat which has led to shutdown of the factories in China impairing exports and imports may hit arrival of containers and ships carrying bulk cargo for sometime till the situation is improved.
Chief Commissioner, Customs, Central GST and Central Excise, Visakhapatnam Zone, Penumaka Naresh, told The Hindu on Monday that they had realised Customs revenue of ₹22,900 crore till February 29 as against the target of ₹26,567 crore. “We are nearing the target collection,” he said.
The revenue achieved last year was ₹22,567 crore. On GST front, as against a target of ₹15,101 crore, the department has realised ₹13,814 crore as against the last year’s ₹14,114 crore. A target of ₹16,069 crore was fixed for collecting Central Excise this year compared to last year’s ₹12,572 crore. So far, ₹8,500 crore has been achieved. The Chief Commissioner admitted this year there could be a shortfall by about ₹3,000 crore mainly due to transfer of several products to GST and import of finished products by HPCL on account of preparation for ultra clean BS-6-compliant fuels.
The government has also realised import duties to the tune of ₹3,900 crore during the year due to dependence on sourcing of diesel and other petroleum products instead of importing crude from the Middle East.
Mr. Naresh disclosed that so far the impact of COVID-19 had not been felt on revenue realisation. “For the last few days there was a steep fall in goods coming from China. Exports to China have also fallen significantly. The affect could be overcome once fears over the spread of the COVID-19 come to an end,” he said while emphatically saying the trade and commerce would overcome the present situation after sometime.
He said they had simplified the returns filing for the taxpayers and were holding interaction with the trade everyday from 3.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. on working days to clarify their doubts on new procedures introduced for filing GST returns.