Coronavirus Impact: GST collection for April, May set to decline, trend to continue in coming months

The Goods and services tax (GST) collections are set to fall drastically in April and May as number of electronic permits or e-way bills generated for transporting goods have declined tangibly. According to the official data, there has been a decline of 30 per cent in e-way bills generated in March with a further decline of 8 per cent in April. These bills are needed for transporting goods worth more than Rs 50,000 within and across states.

There is a clear impact on businesses due to coronavirus lockdown with several small businesses even closing down. Some of them are yet to file for GST with government extending the deadline till June 30, 2020. The trend is likely to continue over the next few days.

In March, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections on a gross basis stood at Rs 97, 597 crore, an 8.4% fall over the corresponding month last year, as revenue from domestic and import transactions slumped and fewer taxpayers filed returns compared to previous months. 

WATCH Zee Business TV LIVE Streaming Online

"Given that majority of the businesses were closed due to the lockdown coupled with the moratorium given by the government to small businesses from payment of GST and filing of returns till 30th June 2020 has resulted in such a sharp decline in GST collections for this month. This trend is likely to continue for the next couple of months at least, if not more,” Rajat Bose, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co said.

The economy has been hit hard due to COVID-19. The death toll in India due to the pandemic rose to 1,147 with 72 more fatalities and the number of cases climbed to 35,043 in the country on Friday, the Union Health Ministry said. The active COVID-19 cases stood at 25,007, while 8,888 people have recovered, and one patient has migrated. The total number of 35,043 cases includes 111 foreign nationals, according to ministry data updated in the morning.

Seventy-two deaths were reported since Thursday evening, out of which 27 fatalities were from Maharashtra, 17 from Gujarat, 11 from West Bengal, seven each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, and three from Delhi.