Finance ministry resources have countered CAG audit finding of central govt wrongly retaining Rs 47,272 crore of GST compensation cess meant for states, indicating short term retention are not able to be termed as diversion.
Days right after the Comptroller and Auditor Normal (CAG) flagged that the Centre in initial two decades of the GST implementation wrongly retained GST compensation cess that was meant to be made use of specifically to compensate states for reduction of profits, ministry resources claimed compensation owing for the year 2017-18 and 2018-19 was absolutely compensated to states.
Time taken in reconciliation of compensation receipts are not able to be termed as diversion of GST cess fund when the dues to states ended up absolutely released by the central govt, they claimed.
Resources claimed that in 2017-18, Rs 62,611 crore was gathered, out of which the govt released total compensation dues of Rs forty one,146 crore to the states and union territories (UTs).
In 2018-19, an amount of money of Rs 95,081 crore was gathered, out of which Rs 69,275 crore was compensated as total compensation dues to states and UTs.
They claimed an amount of money of Rs 47,271 crore gathered in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 had remained unutilised for reconciliation submit total payment of GST compensation dues.
For the year 2019-20, the central govt released Rs one,sixty five,302 crore as GST compensation towards a cess assortment of Rs 95,444 crore which it could do so with the unutilised cess of Rs 47,271 crore.
The GST (Payment to States) Act guarantees all states an yearly growth rate of 14 per cent in their GST profits in the initial 5 decades of implementation of GST starting July 2017. It was released as a relief for states for the reduction of revenues arising from the implementation of GST.
If a state’s profits grows slower than 14 per cent, it is meant to be compensated by the Centre working with the money specifically gathered as compensation cess. To deliver these grants, a GST compensation cess is levied on selected luxury and sin products.
The gathered compensation cess flows into the consolidated fund of India (CFI), and is then transferred to the Community Account of India, the place a GST compensation cess account has been made. States are compensated bi-every month from the amassed money in this account.
Having said that, rather of transferring the full GST cess amount of money to the GST compensation fund for the duration of 2017-18 and 2018-19, the CAG identified that the Centre retained these money in the CFI and made use of it for other applications.
The finance ministry resources claimed the compensation receipt in the CFI was subject to reconciliation in the coming months, as typical, in the forthcoming economic year.
If for that purpose the amount of money remained in the CFI, how can that be dealt with as diversion, they asked introducing even the CAG in its report has not claimed so.
The amount of money gathered beneath compensation cess fund has been often and absolutely distributed to states as per their dues and budgetary provisions and by the stop of July 2020, almost everything has been accounted for and released, source extra.
The CAG in its report tabled in Parliament previously this 7 days claimed out of the Rs 62,612 crore GST Payment Cess gathered in 2017-18, Rs 56,146 crore was transferred to the non-lapsable fund.
In the subsequent year (2018-19), Rs 54,275 crore out of Rs 95,081 crore gathered was transferred to the fund.
The limited transfer in 2017-18 was Rs six,466 crore and in 2018-19 it was Rs forty,806 crore, the CAG claimed introducing the Centre made use of this dollars for “other applications” which “led to an overstatement of profits receipts and understatement of fiscal deficit for the year”.
Resources explained that all amounts including taxes and cess that are gathered by the Centre must, beneath the Article 266 of the Constitution, get credited initial to the CFI and then only it could be transferred to any other fund via a budget head in Union Spending budget.
The govt will make all endeavours to transfer all amounts gathered by the stop of every economic year into the fund by producing necessary budget provisions, they claimed.
In circumstance of compensation cess, because the final accounts of amounts gathered are known only right after the stop of economic year, any amount of money gathered more than and higher than the estimate will continue to be in the CFI temporarily, they claimed introducing right after reconciliation, the amount of money is transferred to Payment Fund and from that fund to states as per their compensation components.
Thus, such short term retention of GST cess in CFI pending reconciliation are not able to be dealt with as diversion by any extend of creativity, resources claimed.
Due to the fact the cess gathered by the Authorities has been made use of for total payment of owing compensation, then it are not able to be alleged that unutilizedcess amount of money has been diverted for other applications, they insisted.
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