GST collection, devolution a success story in North East, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Assam

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RBI report on state finances, the eight NE states have registered a compounded annual GST hike of 27.5 per cent, the finance minister said. Her comments came at the Investiture Ceremony for conferring the Presidential Award for ‘Specially Distinguished Record of Service’ to officers and staff of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). The finance minister said, “The GST's principal largely is on the basis of tax & consumption not just tax on the basis of where it is produced.

As a result, unlike the central sales tax, which is the origin base tax, GST is a destination-based tax...the northeastern states have benefited from the GST. As a result, the northeast consuming states have shown remarkable improvement in the GST collection & also the quantum that goes back to the states in the name of distribution that happens. " Assam was the first state to ratify the GST Act, four days after it was passed and since then there has been a 12 times increase in the collection of taxes, the minister said.

Assam's sales tax collection prior to the implementation of the GST was ₹558.26 crore but this has increased manifold to ₹7,097 crore. Sikkim and Meghalaya too have registered a significant achievement with the former's collection increasing from ₹263.5 crore to ₹3,036 crore and the latter's from ₹587.21 crore to ₹2,078 crore, she said. ''GST has brought about a significant improvement in the system which has not only benefited the states but ultimately the people as well'', Sitharaman said.