covid "Act of God", we can see the economy contract: Nirmala Sitharaman
New Delhi: The coronovirus epidemic has hurt the collection of goods and services (GST) and the shortfall for fiscal year 2021 is ₹ 2.35 lakh crore, the government said today.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said after a meeting of the decision-making body to decide GST policies that the coronavirus epidemic was "an act of God" and an unexpected factor that affected GST collections. "… This year we are facing an extraordinary situation. We are facing an act of God where we can also see a contraction," she said.
The Center has released Rs 1.65 lakh crore as GST compensation to the states for FY 2020, including ₹ 13,806 crore for March, while the cess collected for GST compensation was only ₹ 95,444 crore, Ms. Sitharaman said.
Today's meeting of the GST Council was held amidst severe pressure from states seeking compensation for the lack of revenue amid the coronovirus epidemic.
The Center is strict on paying GST arrears to those states which have not earned much due to months of lockdown due to COVID-19 crisis this year. For example, Punjab has said that it may incur a revenue deficit of Rs 25,000 crore this year.
The options that the GST Council has considered to pay states include borrowing from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
"Two options were placed before the states. We can facilitate through the RBI. The states have today asked us to keep both options in a detailed form and give it in seven working days. After that they will come back. Its Meaning we can have a short. Meeting on GST. We will make a call. Two bi-monthly payments are delayed this year. We only want for this year. GST Council again in April next year Payment can see, ”Ms. Sitharaman said.
People run by Congress-ruled states and parties other than the BJP have said that the Center has a statutory obligation to pay GST dues to them. However, the Center has claimed that there is no liability if there is any shortfall in tax collection.
Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal tweeted, "The Indian government owes ₹ 4,400 crore to a small state like Punjab, for which the total salary bill is ₹ 1,800 crore. It is becoming difficult for us to run the state."
Under the law governing the Goods and Services Tax or GST, states are guaranteed payment for loss of revenue in the first five years after GST came into force from July 1, 2017. This means that states have been promised compensation for any revenue shortfall. 2022 - If they come down from 17 percent annual growth from July 2011 fell.
According to sources, the government's top lawyer Attorney General KK Venugopal has also said that the Center will have to fully compensate the states for loss of revenue in GST during the coronovirus crisis.
The Congress has called the Center "withholding" the states as a "sovereign default" and going back on constitutional guarantees, which was the reason the states came up with the GST scheme in the first place.
GST collections, including compensation cess to states, were falling short of targets even before the coronovirus epidemic, making it difficult for the Center to compensate states.
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