GST rate cuts are unlikely to happen prior to Budget 2019-20

Over the last two months, the GST collections have exceeded the 1 lakh crore mark. The GST Council will monitor the collection pattern for the following few months to see if the collection continues to stay within the same range. The Council will be scheduling its next meeting somewhere in the middle of June before the budget announcement.

Items such as auto parts and cement fall under the higher tax bracket of 28% and there has been demand for GST rate cuts on these kinds of items. However, according to government sources, the GST rate cuts for such goods are not likely to happen unless and until the rate remains steady.

Also, the government is not sure if high tax is the reason for auto sales going down. Hence, the GST Council will assess all of these factors before initiating any further GST rate cuts. The primary focus lies on clubbing the tax slabs of 12% and 18%. Other focus areas will be to simplify the steps around tax filing and e-invoice generation.

Also Read: GST Council to make gradual changes in the tax system

Mostly, the focus will be to make sure the existing tax collection pattern remains and the GST collection exceeds the 1 lakh crore mark within the following few months. In April, the GST collection hit a record high of Rs 1.13 lakh crore.

According to an official statement of the finance ministry, Rs 1,13,865 crore was the overall gross GST revenue collection done in April 2019. Out of which, Rs 21,163 crore was the Central GST (CGST),  Rs 28,801 crore was the State GST (SGST), Rs 54,733 crore was the Integrated GST (IGST), and Rs 9,168 crore was cess.