GST revenue set to surge after initial glitches: Arun Jaitley

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in the first two months were as expected and that collection are expected to go up in the coming months as more tax payers come online and compliance improves.

Total GST collection for August (up to 25 September 2017) touched Rs90,669 crore, against Rs94,063 crore raised in the first month of the roll-out.

"We are now just finished second month. As a base year of 2015-16, we had to give two hikes of 14 per cent each to the states, and for both the months (July and August), with some part of the compensation cess, we are well within that figure," he said at the release of a book titled 'India@70 Modi@3.5'.

Of the total GST mop-up for August, as much as Rs14,402 crore has come in from the central GST (CGST), Rs21,067 crore from state GST (SGST), Rs47,377 crore from Integrated GST (IGST) and Rs7,823 crore from compensation cess levied on demerit and luxury goods. Of Rs7,823 crore, Rs 547 crore is compensation cess from imports in August.

As per the tax sharing formula, the Centre will compensate states for any revenue loss calculated on a base year of 2015-16 and assumed revenue growth of 14 per cent.

"I did not imagine that states will reach breakeven points within 2-3 months itself...As we walk down next couple of months we probably will move up," he said.

On the teething problems related to implementation of GST, he said, one of the issues is reducing the compliance burden for small, medium sectors.

"We are having continuous meetings on how to do it and probably we will do it. The whole process has been put into action," he said.

With regard to direct tax collections, the Finance Minister said, it has seen 15.7 per cent increase over and above last year.

"So called slowdown which some visualise has not impacted that," he said.