GST collection in June at Rs 90,917 crore, Q1 mop up dips 59 pc due to COVID-19 lockdown
New Delhi: GST revenue collection in June stood at Rs 90,917 crore, up from Rs 62,009 crore mopped up in May and Rs 32,294 crore in April.
The goods and Services Tax (GST) mop up was 9 per cent lower on a year-on-year basis in June, while it was 62 per cent down in May and fell 28 per cent in April.
GST collections for the first quarter (April-June) of this fiscal declined 59 per cent, when compared to the same quarter last year as lockdown imposed to contain spread of COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted economic activity.
"The revenues during the financial year has been impacted due to COVID-19, firstly due to the economic impact of the pandemic and secondly due to the relaxations given by the government in filing of returns and payment of taxes due to the pandemic. However, figures of past three months show recovery in GST revenues," the finance ministry said in a statement.
States like Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka witnessed growth in collection in June over last year.
North Eastern states like Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh too witnessed Increase in revenue during the month.
The gross GST revenue collected in the month of June, this year stood at Rs 90,917 crore of which Central GST is Rs 18,980 crore, State GST is Rs 23,970 crore, Integrated GST is Rs 40,302 crore (including Rs 15,709 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is Rs 7,665 crore, the statement said.
"The government collected gross #GST revenue of Rs 90,917 crore in June 2020, which is 91 per cent of the collections in June 2019," Office of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a tweet.
During the month, the revenues from import of goods were 71 per cent and the revenues from domestic transaction were 97 per cent of the collections from these sources during the same month last year.
The government has settled Rs 13,325 crore to Central GST and Rs 11,117 crore to State GST from Integrated GST as regular settlement.
The total revenue earned by central government and state governments after regular settlement in June, stood at Rs 32,305 crore for Central GST and Rs 35,087 crore for the State GST.
The government had allowed a relaxed time schedule for filing of GST returns and returns for the month of April, March as well as February got filed during June 2020.
Some returns of May 2020, which would have otherwise got filed in June 2020, will get filed during first few days of July 2020, the Ministry added.
EY Tax Partner Abhishek Jain said the GST collections while in the first quarter have obviously witnessed a substantial dip because of the current pandemic, however, the increasing trend in June inclines to a recovery being in line soon.
"With this shortfall and related dip in revenue for states as well, the Centre's obligations to compensate States for any shortfall is an area of concern and this being further deepened with muted compensation cess collections," Jain added.
Deloitte India Partner M S Manu said the June revenue numbers indicate that a revival is underway and collections will improve in the coming months.
"In June some of larger producing states have shown an increase in collections or stable revenues compared to last year while some of the consuming states have shown a decline," Mani added.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
