The gross goods and services tax collection in August, 2019, stood at Rs 98,202 crore, up 4.51 per cent, as against Rs 93,960 crore in the same month last year. But even though the GST collection was higher on year-on-year basis, it is still lower than government's expectations of Rs 1 lakh crore.
A lower GST mop-up is set to strain government finances and make it difficult to meet fiscal target. Besides, the burden would increase on the Centre for compensating states for revenue shortfall.
The pressure on the revenue department could also mount to meet the targets, which in turn may result in coercive actions against trade and businesses.
