GST Compensation to States for Loss of Revenue arising on Account of
Implementation of GST for a period of Five Years
As per section 18 of the Constitution (One Hundred and
First Amendment) Act, 2016, Parliament shall, by law, on the recommendation of
the Goods and Services Tax Council, provide for compensation to the States for
loss of revenue arising on account of implementation of the goods and services
tax for a period of five years. This was stated by Union Minister of State for
Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 19 July 2022.
The Minister stated that the issue of compensation to
States/UTs and augmenting resources under GST were discussed in detail in the
45th GST Council meeting held in Lucknow. Consequent to the decision of the
Council, two Group of Ministers (GoMs), namely GoM on GST System Reforms and GoM
on Rate Rationalization have been constituted. GoM on
Rate Rationalization has submitted its interim report, recommending certain
inverted duty corrections and pruning of exemptions, which was discussed and
considered in the last GST Council meeting held at Chandigarh.
As a result, the Minister stated, the continued reforms
in GST undertaken by Centre and States, on the recommendations of the GST
Council, buoyancy in GST revenue has been achieved in the recent months. The
average monthly gross GST collection for the first quarter of the FY 2022-23
has been ₹1.51 lakh crore against the average monthly collection of
₹1.10 lakh crore in the first quarter of the last Financial
year showing an increase of 37%, the Minister stated.
The Minister stated that a few States have requested for
extension of payment of GST compensation beyond transition period of five
years.
The Minister further stated that as per Section 7 of the
GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017, the States are required to be
compensated for loss of revenue due to implementation of GST (w.e.f. 01.07.2017) for 5 years’ period. During transition
period, the States’ revenues are protected at 14% growth rate per annum over
the base year revenue (2015-16). Accordingly, the States are being compensated
for any shortfall against their protected revenue. The details of GST
compensation due and released to States/ UTs for the year 2017-18 to 2022-23 is
as per ANNEXURE.