State seeks Rs 300-crore GST compensation for July

HYDERABAD: The state government has sought Rs 300-crore Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation for July 2017, the first month of the implementation of the unified tax structure, from the central government.According to sources, the finance and commercial taxes departments have jointly prepared a letter and sent it to the Union fiance ministry, requesting it to give Rs 300 crore in compensation to the state.

Sources said that in July, the state government had received less revenues due to the implementation of the GST. As per the GST Act, the states which registered below 14 per cent growth would be compensated for the revenue loss, if any. Though, TS is a prospering state, it failed to get the expected revenues. Hence the plea for compensation. The base year for the calculation of compensation is 2015-16. The comptroller and auditor general will assess the state’s growth rate in 2017-18 and decide the compensation, officials said. “We wrote a letter to the Centre on Wednesday, seeking compensation,” official sources in finance department confirmed. However, it was not clear whether the Centre would give compensation to the state or not. It all depends on the state’s growth rate to be calculated by the CAG. 

There are two opinions in the state government. One is the tax collection was less by Rs 300 crore for July. If the CAG confirms this, the state will get the compensation. The other opinion is that the Centre apportioned Rs 9,700 crore IGST for July, of which TS got Rs 418 crore. The Centre is yet to apportion Rs 24,000 crore taxes for July. “We are expecting that the state will get another Rs 800 crore,” an official said. In such a case, the state would get Rs 500 crore more revenue and it may not get the compensation, he said.