Outstanding Goods and Services Tax (GST) Compensation dues to States now amount to ₹35,266 crore, the Finance Ministry informed Parliament on Monday.
These dues pertain to June 2022, the last month for which States were assured a certain level of revenue in order to switch to the GST regime, and would be paid from GST Compensation Cess collections, whose levy has been extended till March 2026.
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Gujarat had the maximum outstanding GST compensation dues as per provisional figures for June. The dues for these six States add up to ₹17,668 crore, little more than half of the total compensation pending for all States.
“Entire GST compensation dues of States and UTs has been cleared by Central Government for period up to May 31, 2022, by releasing ₹86, 912 crore,” Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha. “This decision has been taken despite the fact that only about ₹25,000 crore was available in the GST Compensation Fund... Now, GST compensation for month of June 2022 [is] pending to all States/UTs,” he noted.
“A few States have requested the Union Government to extend the GST compensation period beyond June, 2022,” the Minister said. On members’ queries about whether GST compensation received by States forms a large part of their revenue and if the Centre was considering a change in the sharing formula for GST revenues, the minister replied in the negative.
