After three successive months of ₹1-lakh-crore plus mobilisation, collection from the Goods & Services Tax (GST) dipped in June to little below ₹1 lakh crore.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur on Monday warned dishonest traders against using fake invoices to claim fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC).

‘Fraudsters won’t be spared’

Addressing an event to celebrate two years of the GST, Thakur warned businesses against indulging in GST evasion. “ Imandaar trader se bair nahi , fake invoices walon ki khair nahi (no enmity with honest traders but those dealing with fake invoices will not be spared),” he said, adding that tax officers will take stringent action against erring businesses.

Responding to a query in Parliament, the Finance Ministry informed that during the current fiscal (April 1-June 25), 535 cases of fake invoices involving fraudulent input tax credit to the tune of ₹2,500 crore have been registered and 40 persons have been arrested. During the last fiscal, 1,620 cases were registered involving over ₹11,250 crore. As many as 154 persons were arrested for fraudulent activities.

“The menace of fake invoices need to be checked as the actions of a few unscrupulous traders make the majority of honest taxpayers uncompetitive and cause loss to government,” Thakur said. He hoped that the trade and industry will urge their constituents to shun the bad practices and comply with the law.

Target to be lowered?

According to a Finance Ministry statement, total gross GST revenue collection in June was ₹99,939 crore. Though it is 4.52 per cent higher than the revenue in the same month last year which was ₹95,610 crore, it is below the ₹1 lakh crore collected in May and ₹1.13 lakh crore mopped up in April this year.

The government intends to collect over ₹13.71 lakh crore during this fiscal, which means average monthly collection should be over ₹1.14 lakh crore. So, far only April collection has been close to this number. Considering the slowdown in demand, the target appears to be slightly ambitious. That is why the Union Budget, to be presented on July 5, is expected to lower the target for GST collection. It may be noted that even last fiscal, the actual collection was lower than ₹1 lakh crore.

The Finance Ministry’s statement mentioned that in collection for June, the share of CGST (Central Goods & Services Tax) was ₹18,366 crore, that of SGST (State Goods & Services Tax) ₹25,343 crore and that of IGST ₹47,772 crore. As much as ₹8,457 crore was collected by way of cess. The total number of GSTR 3B Returns filed for May up to June 30 was 74.38 lakh.

‘GST is consumer-friendly’ p4

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