Odisha records 54% growth rate in July 2021 GST collection at Rs 3615 cr

Despite Covid-19 related restrictions, Odisha has registered a growth of 54 per cent in GST collection in July, 2021, in comparison to the corresponding month last year.

Odisha records a GST collection of Rs 3,615 crore last month as against Rs 2,348 crore collected during July 2020.

An official release issued by the GST directorate said this is the second-highest ever gross collection of GST by the state in any month after the collection of Rs 3,849 crore recorded during April 2021.

This growth rate of GST collection in Odisha is the second highest amongst all major states in India after Maharashtra.

The progressive GST collection till July '21 is Rs 13,661 crore as against Rs 7,540 crore till July '20, a growth of 81 per cent. The corresponding collection till July '19 was Rs 10,513 crore, it said.

The collection of OGST during July 2021 is Rs 1,067 crore against a collection of Rs 794 crore during July 2020 recording a growth of 34 per cent.

The progressive collection of OGST up to July '21 is Rs 3,880 crore against a collection of Rs 2 354 crore up to July '20 recording a progressive growth of 65 per cent. The corresponding figure till July '19 was Rs 3023 crore.

There is a collection of Rs 927 crore in CGST, Rs 1028 crore in IGST and Rs 592 crore in cess during July '21, it said.

The total e-waybill generated during July '21 was 14.43 lakh against 11.23 lakh during July'20 witnessing a growth of 28 per cent. This growth during July 2021 is a result of better compliance by dealers having turnover of more than Rs 5 crore during the previous year as well as QRMP Dealers filing returns for the Quarter ending June 21.

An increase in the collection is also due to rise in commodity prices in iron and steel as well as the mining sector and collection from matured GST demand made by tax officers after return scrutiny. This is also as a result of regular follow up by the tax officials as well as closer scrutiny of returns filed by the dealers and enforcement measures undertaken by the Commercial Tax Organisation, the release said.

The total collection of VAT (petrol and liquor) is Rs 824.53 crore during July 21 as against Rs 611.36 crore during July '20 with a growth rate of 34.86 per cent.

Out of the above, collection from petroleum products is Rs 674.53 crore during July 21 as against Rs 501.36 crore during July '20 with a growth rate of 34.54 per cent. Similarly, the collection from liquor is Rs 150.01 crore during July 21 as against Rs 110.43 crore during July '20 with a growth rate of 36.36 per cent.

The Commercial and GST Organisation has been focusing on increasing the tax base of GST with regular survey and registration. As many as 9386 numbers of new registrants have been brought under the GST during the current FY, it said.

During the recent review with tax officials of central and state government, Odisha Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari has directed officials to focus on improving the return filing status of dealers, plug leakages by detecting tax evasions and taking expeditious action against them, use technology to improve monitoring and bring the eligible dealers under the tax net by conducting surveys effectively.

Tax officials have been further instructed to facilitate genuine taxpayers and ensure that they are not put to any unnecessary harassment.