PANAJI: Goa, which saw a 30% growth in GST collections for April over the same month in 2019, saw its revenues halved during the second Covid-19 wave, particularly in May and June. Chief minister Pramod Sawant said that the state has incurred a major loss of revenue, but expressed optimism that Goa would bounce back.
Finance secretary Puneet Kumar Goel said that despite the drop in revenue, he is confident that Goa’s GST collections for 2021-22 will hit a record high.
“This time, in the second wave, though we haven’t taken a complete review, there is a more than 50% loss of revenue,” said Sawant, speaking at the inauguration of the Rajya Kar Bhavan or state GST building.
Though PWD began the initial construction of the building at Altinho, it was handed over to Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation and has been completed at an estimated cost of Rs 19.5 crore.
Sawant said that despite incurring a major loss of revenue, the state has been able to sustain the impact and even provide relief to the industry. Sawant said that the last date for filing VAT returns has been extended, the fees, penalties and interest for late filing of tax returns have been decreased, and licenses that were due to expire during the lockdowns have been extended.
Shedding more light on the state’s revenue graph, Goel said that though GST collections in April 2021 were 30% higher than the collections in April 2019, GST mop-up dropped in May and June, when the state was under a curfew to curb the spread of the Covid-19 infections. Goel said he was confident that GST collections would increase in July.
“The honest tax payer will not be harassed and the dishonest taxpayer will not be spared. If we go with this motto, despite the loss of revenue in the last two months, we will post record collections in 2021-22,” said Goel.
Sawant also said that during the first wave of Covid-19, when the entire country was under a lockdown, Goa’s revenue dropped to just 10% of earlier figures.
“Sometimes it was very difficult to figure out how to manage the finances of the state, but I can proudly say that despite the constraints, bills worth Rs 500 crore were paid last year without putting any financial burden on the state kitty,” said Sawant.
The chief minister urged VAT taxpayers and others to settle long-pending tax disputes under the one time-settlement scheme.
“Under the one-time settlement scheme declared by the GST commissioner, around 11,800 people filed applications. More can come forward and settle their cases. We want to clean up the backlog. There are pending issues related to VAT, Excise, GST of the last few years,” said Sawant.
Want to make Altinho admin hub: Sawant
Panaji: The state government aims to transform Altinho into an administrative hub, said chief minister Pramod Sawant even as he directed the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation to prepare a design for Altinho. Sawant said that several government departments which are in the heart of the capital’s business centre are being shifted away to Altinho or Porvorim.
“We want to plan and design the entire area around Altinho. In future, the state election commission office will also be reconstructed. I have instructed GSIDC to plan the Altinho area, to develop it properly,” said Sawant.
The department of commercial taxes and GST, as well as the Excise department, are being shifted to Altinho into the new Rajya Kar Bhavan. The forest department has already moved into the newly-built Van Bhavan, which is also at Altinho. Altinho is also where ministers, IAS officers, and other senior bureaucrats have their official residences.
