Due to the pandemic and the lockdown, Haryana’s excise and taxation revenue collection between April and June first week has been around ₹4,881 crore, down 24% against the corresponding period last year.
The government data shows the net revenue collection from various sources between April 1, 2019-June 7, 2019 was ₹6,432.30 crore, which in 2020 (April 1-June 7) has been ₹4,881.37 crore.
The State collected ₹804.03 crore under the Value Added Tax (VAT) plus Central Sales Tax (CST), which was ₹1,438.90 crore in 2019 (-44.12%). The net State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) collection in 2020 is ₹1,278.74 crore against last year’s ₹3,277.92 crore (-60.99%). The collection under the SGST compensation has been ₹1,849.11 crore this year.
The collection from excise, which is primarily from liquor sale, has been ₹949.47 crore, which was ₹1,715.44 crore in 2019 — down by 44.65%, according to the data.
An official of the State Excise and Taxation department said on condition of anonymity the monthly revenue incomes from various sources had fallen as all economic activities had come to a grinding halt. “We are however, hopeful that with resumption of economic activities, the revenue receipts will increase in the coming days.”
To make up for the losses, the State government had on May 5 decided to impose a variable “covid cess” on liquor, as it introduced the new excise policy for 2020-21. The additional revenue generated was to be used to support the areas or institutions adversely hit by the pandemic. Also, to generate revenue the government had decided to increase VAT by ₹1 per litre diesel and ₹1.10 per litre petrol.
“We are expecting a revenue between ₹32-35 crore from the “covid cess” during the past one month, which will be apart from the ₹949 crore collected as excise on liquor,” said the official.
