The Tamil Nadu government has written to the Union Finance Ministry, reiterating its demand for the apportionment of its share of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) from the 2017-18 fiscal. Funds to the tune of ₹5,453.82 crore are due to be paid to the State, officials said.
Under the IGST scheme, 50% of the collections will go to the Centre (as the Central Goods and Services Tax component) and the remaining 50% will be allocated to the States and Union Territories (as the State Goods and Services Tax component). And, 42% of the CGST will be devolved to the States and Union Territories. Sources said the States/Union Territories are supposed to get 71% of the IGST (including 50% of the SGST and 21%, which is 42% of the 50% CGST). But due to wrong calculation, States received only 42% of the IGST during 2017-18.
Fifty per cent of the ₹1,76,688.44 crore received as IGST during 2017-18 is to be apportioned to the SGST component, with Tamil Nadu entitled to get ₹5,453.82 crore.
The State government has repeatedly urged the Centre to release these dues. The Chief Minister wrote to the Union Finance Minister, reiterating this demand, and also raised the issue in a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister in January.
CAG report
The Governor too, in his address to the Assembly, urged the Centre to clear the pending dues. “The Centre is yet to release the dues,” an official said.
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s report, ‘Accounts of the Union Government – Financial Audit’, released in February, pointed out that the Centre had devolved ₹67,998 crore under the IGST to States/UTs from the States’ share.
“Only 50% of the IGST revenues are of the Centre, and devolution is possible only from the Central share,” it noted.
“Thus, the devolution, as done, is not consistent with the scheme of GST/IGST. CAG has advised that GoI [Centre] needs to account for its share correctly and devolution should take place from the Central share only. The remaining 50% should be apportioned to the States as per the law,” the report said.
