Budget 2018 Updates: GST collections fall to lowest in November at Rs 80,808 cr

The collections are lower than the Rs 83,346 cr in October and way below the average target of Rs 91,000 cr a month.

Budget 2018 Updates : In continuance with the slide, the mop-up under the goods and services tax (GST) in November fell to just above Rs 80,000 crore – a decline that could be attributed to the rate reduction for more than 200 items in the same month and the use of the integrated GST (IGST) as credit for paying taxes.

This will heighten the Centre’s fiscal concerns ahead of the Union Budget, dashing hopes of any further reduction in rates in the near future.

“The collection under the GST for November has been Rs 80,808 crore till December 25, 2017,” the government said in a release on Tuesday. The collections are lower than the Rs 83,346 crore in October and way below the average target of Rs 91,000 crore a month.

Experts say the GST collections will decline also in December and stabilise from January.

The slowdown has prompted the GST Council, in its meeting on December 16, to do a nation-wide roll-out of the electronic way bill on June 1 next year to plug revenue leakages and tighten enforcement.

The roll-out for inter-state movements of goods has been advanced to February 1 from April 1 decided earlier. As many as 5.31 million assessees filed returns for November (till December 25) out of the 8.24 million registered. The number does not include those under the composition scheme. Besides, those with an annual turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore are allowed to file quarterly returns.

Click to Read → Budget 2018-19 Updates

Budget News : Budget session of Parliament to begin from Jan 29; Union Budget on Feb 1

The first phase of the session will be from January 29 to February 9.

Budget News : The Budget session of Parliament will commence from January 29 and the Union Budget will be presented on February 1, the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs recommended on Friday.

President Ram Nath Kovind will address the joint sitting of the two Houses on January 29 and the Economic Survey will be tabled on the same day, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters here.

The first phase of the session will be from January 29 to February 9. After a recess, Parliament will meet again from March 5 to April 6, Kumar said.

The recommendation of the session dates was made by the CCPA which met here.

The winter session of Parliament ended on Friday.

Click to Read → Budget 2018 News

Budget 2018-19 : PM Modi likely to meet economists on Jan 10

Union Budget 2018-19, which will be the final budget for PM Modi-led NDA regime before the 2019 general elections, will be presented on Feb 1.

Budget 2018-19 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold a meeting with top economists of the country on January 10.

This meeting is a usual practice before budget, and was conducted in 2017 as well.

Modi had also called for a similar meeting in December 2017, where the impact of demonetisation was discussed.

Union Budget 2018-19, which will be the final budget for Prime Minister Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime before the 2019 general elections, will be presented on February 1.

Prime Minister Modi will chair the meetup of over 30 eminent economists.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley; CEO, NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant; Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, Rajiv Kumar; chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Bibek Debroy, and other members of the Economic Advisory Council will also be present.

Amitabh Kant and Rajiv Kumar are also expected to give a detailed presentation to the Prime Minister about the work done by the NITI Aayog.

The Prime Minister is also expected to take stock of the economy.

Click to Know → Union Budget 2018-19