Govt Loses GST Revenue In March

The central government’s share in the goods and services tax for March tumbled 87% over a year earlier as the Covid-19 lockdown stalled economic activity during the month. GST for March, collected till April 30, stood at Rs 5,934 crore, according to data on Controller General of Accounts’ website. That compares with Rs 46,848 crore in the previous year. The CGA data reveals the financial position from April 1-30. The collections point to the scale of impact on the finances of the central government during a month that only saw about a week of complete lockdown. And GST collections were falling short of expectations even before the Covid-19 stress as falling consumption had slowed down economic growth. The retail sector has reported massive losses, impacting the GST revenues of the central and state governments. “The Indian retail sector has lost a gigantic sum of approximately Rs 7.50 lakh crore business in this period which has resulted in GST revenue loss to central and state governments to the tune of about Rs 1.15 lakh crores,” the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said. Every one in five Indian retailers or about 20% of the country’s retailers are likely to face the heat of coronavirus and succumb to financial crunch with them shutting shops.