GST Coronavirus act of God which affected GST collections: Nirmala Sitharaman
New Delhi/IBNS: Amid pressure from several states to compensate the revenue shortfall, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said Novel Coronavirus is an act of God that has affected the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
After meeting the decision-making body for fixing GST policies, Sitharaman said as quoted by NDTV, "This year we are facing an extraordinary situation. We are facing an act of God where we may even see a contraction."
The government said it has a shortfall in revenue of Rs. 2.35 lakh crore for the fiscal year 2021.
Sitharaman said the Centre has released over Rs. 1.65 lakh crore as GST compensation to the states for the fiscal year 2020.
One of the options that the GST Council has considered to pay off the dues to the states is by borrowing from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Sitharaman said, "Two options were placed before the states. We can facilitate through RBI. States have asked to put us both the options in a detailed form today and give them seven working days, after that they will come back.
"It means we can have a small meeting on GST. We will take a call. Two bi-monthly payments are delayed this year. We want only for this year. The GST Council can look into the payments again in April next year."
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