Rs 471.38 crore fall in fuel cess, VAT collection in Gujarat

The Gujarat government today told the Legislative Assembly that it collected Rs 471.38 crore less VAT and cess from the sale of petrol and diesel in 2015 as compared to 2014.
In a written reply, Energy and Petroleum Minister Saurabh Patel said the government collected a total of Rs 15,974 crore through VAT and cess on petrol and diesel during the calender years 2014 and 2015.
The reply came in response to a written question by BJP MLA Rajnikant Patel, who had sought details of VAT and cess rates on fuels and the revenue collected through these taxes in the last two years.

The government reply said it had collected Rs 8,223.17 crore in 2014, while the collection dipped to Rs 7,751.79 crore in 2015, a fall of Rs 471.38 crore.
As of December 31, 2015, the state was collecting 23 per cent VAT and 2 per cent cess on petrol and 21 per cent VAT and 3 per cent cess on diesel.
On January 5 this year the government hiked these two taxes saying the constantly falling fuel prices was making a dent in the revenue. Now the VAT on both fuels is 24 per cent and the cess 4 per cent.