The government’s haste is understandable, given its
fiscal compulsions. After a monthly inflow of over
90,000 crore in the first three months of the tax
regime, revenue collections dipped. From a peak of
92,283 crore in July 2017 — that the Centre reckoned was
adequate to deal with its revenue targets and compensate
States for revenue losses — GST collections between
October and January averaged 84,294 crore per month.
This may be partly because of the large-scale
rationalisation of tax rates carried out recently, but
registered taxpayers are also finding ways to avoid tax
dues. Data for January bear this out — about 69% of the
over one crore registered businesses filed returns, with
wide variations across territories.
In Punjab, 83% taxpayers filed returns, while
industrially developed States, including Maharashtra and
Tamil Nadu, didn’t fare as well. This disparity must be
factored in by the GST Council when it considers
proposals for a staggered launch of the intra-State
e-way bill system. Boosting compliance is critical for
further rationalisation of multiple GST rates, the
Finance Minister has said. To achieve that goal, it must
be ensured that States and industry are comfortable with
the e-way bill regime, and that the IT backbone doesn’t
crash this time.
Source::: The Hindu,
dated 01/03/2018.