Hyderabad: Financial woes have only aggravated in Telangana state, which recently initiated several steps ostensibly to increase revenue generation. One stark indicator of this is the revenues from GST, which dipped in September this year.
From a national perspective, Telangana perhaps was the lone state that registered significant negative growth in GST revenue for the month of September. The growth in GST revenue came down in September this year, compared to that registered during the same month of last year.
According to a report released by the Union Finance Ministry, the total GST revenue in September this year was Rs 4,998 crore, compared to Rs 5,267 crore registered in the same month last year. According to official statistics, the growth rate in GSR revenue was minus 5 per cent in September this year. Himachal Pradesh registered minus 4 per cent of the GST revenue growth, followed by Manipur and Delhi, which reported minus 1 per cent growth.
When contacted, officials said that the state government was taking damage control measures to improve economic indicators, inter alia, by strengthening vigilance and field inspections to curb the growing menace of evasion of tax payments by traders. The Commercial Taxes Department officials said that the performance of every circle at the Assistant Commercial Tax Officer (ACTO) level was under close monitoring to analyse the pattern of GST revenue generation. Officials said that many traders did not pay GST in September in view of the introduction of GST rate rationalization from September 22 across the country. The invoices generated by the traders are now being scrutinized and notices will be issued to the defaulters soon.
The officials claimed that trading to came down due to various reasons in parts of Hyderabad and Telangana. A detailed report of GST collections and the impact of GST rate rationalization was already under study. The impact of GST rate rationalization in October will be visible, considering that overall business was high during the Dasara festivities in Hyderabad. Sources said that Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka has called a meeting with Commercial Taxes Department officials next week to ascertain the GST revenue growth in the next two quarters of this financial year.
