Question

After two consecutive months of contraction in September and October, Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in December (for November sales) rose over the Rs. 1-lakh crore mark, a growth of 8.9 percent year-over-year. In November too, the GST mop-up had topped Rs. 1 lakh crore, but December figures were keenly awaited since the November collections were largely attributed to higher festive sales. In December, GST collections at Rs 1,03,184 crore were marginally lower than the previous month, but rise for the second month in a row indicates improvement in revenue growth and higher compliance due to enforcement of more anti-evasion measures and a cap on input tax credit. Until December 31, as many as 81.21 lakh GSTR 3B (monthly summary returns) were filed, 4.3 per cent more than 77.83 lakh in November. Also, a cap on input tax credit at 20 per cent of the eligible credit for businesses effective October helped in higher collections. This cap, which was only for buyers whose suppliers did not upload invoices, prevented fraudulent claims and revenue leakage, said tax officials.

Which of the following items does/do not fall under the purview of GST?

Options

• Petroleum products

• Alcoholic drinks

• Electricity 

• All of the above

Answer 1

All of the above

Explanation:

Goods and services are divided in into five different tax slabs for collection of tax - 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. However, petroleum products, alcoholic drinks, and electricity are not taxed under GST and instead are taxed separately by the individual state governments, as per the previous tax system.