Customs mop-up in 2018-19 had surpassed the budgeted estimate of Rs 1.12 lakh crore to hit Rs 1.3 lakh crore.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her maiden Budget on July 5 pegged Customs collection at Rs 1.55 lakh crore for 2019-20.
Customs mop-up in 2018-19 had surpassed the budgeted estimate of Rs 1.12 lakh crore to hit Rs 1.3 lakh crore.
In the Interim Budget in February, the government put the figure at Rs 1.45 lakh crore, higher than last year's target.
Excise duty collections has been pegged at Rs 3 lakh crore for 2019-20. In the Interim Budget, collection was budgeted at Rs 2.59 lakh crore, the same as in 2018-19.
Excise duty, service tax, along with nearly a dozen other central and state levies being subsumed in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rolled out from July 1, 2017.
GST reduced the cascading effect of taxes, cut down compliance, logistics and transportation costs, gave India a common economic market, and provided a technology-driven tax system. It was a step towards creating one nation, one tax, one market.
However, two years later, it remains a work in progress, amid hopes that it is rapidly moving towards a steady state, aided by rationalised rates, improved tax collections, smoother procedures, and speedier refunds backed by a more efficient tech backbone.Catch Budget 2019 LIVE updates here. Click here for full Budget 2019 coverage
