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Informist, Friday, Jul. 4, 2025

NEW DELHI – The Group of Ministers on Goods and Services Tax revenue analysis Friday discussed ways to curb input tax credit frauds, augment revenues, and implement best practices to tackle these issues, Goa's Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, convenor of the panel, said. "We held detailed discussions on state-wise GST revenue collections and the policy steps needed to improve collections of the states that are lacking," Sawant told the media after the meeting.

Another person present at the meeting said the government has identified fraudulent input tax credit amounting to a whopping INR 2.00 trillion, which raises concerns about the extent of the problem. "This has been identified, there may be much more," the person said on condition of anonymity.

According to Sawant, the ministerial panel discussed ways by which to curb fraud in input tax credit, including strengthened audits and better system integration. If businesses are better integrated into the GST systems, revenues will also improve, he said. The Group of Ministers also discussed issues faced in GST registrations and generation of e-way bills, he said.

This Group of Ministers was set up following a decision taken at the 31st meeting of the GST Council on Dec. 22, 2018. It analyses state-wise trends in revenue collection, both pre- and post-GST, studies structural patterns emerging from major sectors of the economy that affect revenue collection, including the services sector, identifies underlying reasons for deviations in revenue collection trends from original assumptions arrived at during the design and implementation of GST, and suggests suitable measures or policy interventions for course correction to augment revenues.

At present, the Group of Ministers has nine members with representation from Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu, besides Goa. Friday's meeting was also the first of any Group of Ministers after the GST Council last met Dec. 21.

The Goa chief minister said the panel also analysed the impact of GST revenues on the overall economy. The meeting assumes significance against the backdrop of worries of a likely slowdown in momentum of GST collections. In June, GST collections grew 6.2% on year, the slowest pace in four years, to INR 1.85 trillion, data released by the government Tuesday showed. The post-settlement revenues of states rose only 4.6% on year to INR 1.389 trillion last month.

Sawant said the Group of Ministers will hold another meeting before submitting its report to the GST Council. Presently, revenue officers of the Centre and the states will hold discussions on the topics that came up at Friday's meeting. Thereafter, the ministers will hold a second meeting before finalising their report.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was expected to chair the next GST Council meeting this month, and to likely take up the issue of rate rationalisation and simplification of the tax structure. The date for the next GST Council meeting has not been decided yet. The council, which is mandated to meet every three months, has not met for over six months.  End

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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