the goan I network
PANAJI
In news that could bring cheer to the State government, Goa’s Goods and Services Tax collections grew by 5.96 per cent while GST collections pan-India declined 2.67% in September 2019 compared to September 2018 for the same period.
Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Dipak M Bandekar, said, “Our GST collections stood at Rs 170.08 crore in September 2019 compared to Rs 160.52 crore in September 2018 reflecting a growth of around 6%.”
When asked for the reason behind the growth in Goa’s GST collections, Bandekar replied, “In September 2018, our GST collections were a bit on the lower side. Therefore, when we compare September 2019 with the same month of the previous year, there is growth.”
The fact that GST collections grew must be music to the ears of the State Government because there is a widespread economic slowdown in the country, which makes it tough for the government to have healthy tax collections.
Bandekar further said that he remained hopeful of growth in the State’s GST collections in the coming months. This is because tourism season kicks in every year from November, which has a trickle-down impact on all sectors of the economy.
However, the GST Council had reduced tax rates on hotels in its previous meeting. The council had cut down tax rate from 28% to 18% for hotels charging per day tariff of more than Rs 7,500. For hotels with lesser tariff, tax rates were reduced as well. Given that hotels form a major part of the State’s economy, it remains to be seen what impacts tax reduction will have on government’s tax collections.
