Page 10 - Banking Finance November 2019

GST UPDATE

GST collection drops Rs 3.26 crore spent by Goa government on GST coun-
cil meeting
down by 2.67% in Sep-
Rs 3.26 crore have been spent by the Goa government in order to host a two-
tember day long GST council meeting, said advocate and social
activist Aires Rodrigues. The RTI information obtained by
Rodrigues reveals that Vasco-based Vinsan Graphics was
hired by Goa State Tourism Development Corporation
(GTDC) as the event management agency. The state ex-
chequer paid Rs 1.95 crores to the event company. To
ferry the dignitaries, which included cabinet ministers of
various states and GST officials, GTDC hired 200-odd taxis for which Rs 97.80
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) lakh was the estimated cost. It was shown by the RTI documents that GTDC
collection in September dropped had initially estimated a need for 360 tourist taxis.
down by 2.67% to Rs 91,916 on a “This was a fit case for the Lokayukta to probe as it is fraudulent act of gross
year on year basis.
maladministration by way of astronomical expenditure incurred on the GST meet,”
According to an official statement, Rodrigues said. Documents reveal that the commercial taxes department paid
"The total gross GST revenue col- Rs 25 lakh as advance payment for the taxis to GTDC. Officials were put up at
lected in the month of September, Cidade de Goa and Double Tree by Hilton for which an estimated expenditure of
2019 was Rs 91,916 crore of which Rs 30 lakh and Rs 15.20 lakh was incurred, the RTI documents show.
Central GST (CGST) was Rs 16,630 “It is extremely anguishing that a government which had no funds to remedy
crore, State GST (SGST) was Rs the potholed roads of Goa had the audacity to have needlessly spent crores in
22,598 crore, Integrated GST (IGST) holding this petty meeting in a 5 star hotel when it could have been held at the
was Rs 45,069 crore (including Rs secretariat or the International Centre at Dona Paula,” said Rodrigues. A gov-
22,097 crore collected on imports) ernment official said that every state government is expected to host the GST
and Cess is Rs 7,620 crore (including council meetings by rotation and the respective state government has to bear
Rs 728 crore collected on imports)."
all the cost for hosting the GST council members.
The government has settled Rs
21,131 crore to CGST and Rs 15,121 CGST officials nab two for defrauding govt with fake
crore to SGST from IGST as regular
settlement. The total revenue GST invoices worth Rs 700 crore
earned by the central government The Central GST commissionerate in Pune has recently arrested two people for
and the state governments after allegedly defrauding the government of approximately
regular settlement in September was Rs 700 crore by issuing fake Goods and Services Tax
Rs 37,761 crore for CGST and Rs (GST) invoices. The arrested two were identified as Amit
37,719 crore for the SGST, it said. Ashok Thepde and Vias M Atal, partners of two firms
The total number of GSTR 3B Re- called Reliable Multitrading and Himalaya Tradelinks,
turns filed for the month of August according to a statement issued by joint commissioner Mangaraju.
up to September 30, was 75.94 “The two firms obtained GST registration and have together issued fake GST
lakh. The lower indirect tax collec- invoices of approximately Rs 700 crores with GST component of Rs 54 crore to
tion is set to put further pressure on facilitate bogus input tax credit (ITC) claims and dupe the government exche-
the government finances. quer,” read the statement. As per the statement, the non-existent transport
Lower GST collection could change of goods was proved using fake lorry receipts and GST e-way bills.
its fiscal maths. By lowering corpo- The two companies had a valid GST number and registeration. However, the
rate tax it has already taken a big companies, according to the CGST commissionerate, exist only on paper and
bet, with government already com- facilitate forged transactions which are also only on paper. These transaction
mitted to scaling up public spending
details are then provided to other companies who use it to claim ITC without
to boost the sagging economy.
doing the transactions required to claim it.
10 | 2019 | NOVEMBER | BANKING FINANCE