THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary - May 3, 2018 - Topic 1

Delivering the goods: on GST collections

Collections from the Goods and Services Tax crossed the Rs.1 lakh crore mark in April, according to data released by the Finance Ministry on tax receipts that accrued in March but were payable in April. To be precise, the total revenue from the new indirect tax in April was Rs.1,03,458 crore, the highest recorded in a single month since its implementation in July 2017. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has called this a “landmark achievement” and a “confirmation of increased economic activity”. Separate data released last week suggest the number of registered tax-payers filing GST returns by the specified deadline has risen from 57% for July to nearly 63% for March. 

And since many had consistently failed to meet the deadline in the initial months of confusion over the online returns filing system, it is heartening to note that by the final month of the financial year, they had caught up on their past arrears too. Overall tax compliance for July 2017 is now over 96% of registered taxpayers who are required to file, and ranges from 92% to 80% for each month thereafter, till December. Further simplification of the returns, hanging fire for a while now, must be expedited to improve compliance. Though it referred to the record GST collections as a sign of an upswing in the economy, the government, to be fair, also stressed that this number may be driven by the human tendency to wrap up pending official dues at the last moment — which in this case is the last month of the financial year. Yet, even delayed compliance is a welcome ‘new normal’.

True, the revenue influx in April cannot be taken as a firm trend for the future. But given the tumult the GST caused in its initial months and the fear of high evasion levels that gripped officials when revenues tumbled after three months of Rs.90,000 crore-plus collections, it is fair to say that the new tax system has ended its first three quarters on a robust note. By virtue of just the April inflows, the average monthly collection has gone from Rs.89,885 crore in the first eight months to over Rs.91,300 crore. This number is important, as by the government’s own reckoning the new regime needed to deliver about Rs.91,000 crore a month to ensure that revenues lost by the Centre and the States under the earlier indirect tax system are covered. Fresh anti-evasion measures introduced in the past few weeks, such as the e-way billing to track movement of goods, could plug leakages to some extent. The government is keen to start matching tax credits claimed by businesses for inputs from suppliers. While these should boost GST revenues in the new financial year, nothing will beat fiscal stress better than a sustained revival in consumption and investment demand. Policymakers need to ensure that the uptick in car sales and demand for steel and cement is catalysed further.

Vocabulary

Payable: required to be paid

Example: Interest is payable on the money owing

Synonyms: due, owed, owing, outstanding, unpaid, overdue

Accrued: money or benefits be received by someone in regular or increasing amounts over time.

Example: Financial benefits will accrue from restructuring

Synonyms: result from, arise from, follow from, ensue from, be caused by

Precise: marked by exactness and accuracy of expression or detail.

Example: Precise directions

Synonyms: exact, accurate, correct, specific, detailed, explicit, unambiguous

Consistently: unchanging in achievement or effect over a period of time.

Example: Manufacturing processes require a consistent approach

Synonyms: constant, regular, uniform, steady, stable, even, unchanging

Compliance: the action or fact of complying with a wish or command.

Example: They must secure each other's cooperation or compliance

Expedite: make an action or process happen sooner or be accomplished more quickly.

Example: He promised to expedite economic reforms

Synonyms: speed up, accelerate, hurry, hasten, step up, quicken, precipitate

Tendency: an inclination toward a particular characteristic or type of behavior.

Example: For students, there is a tendency to socialize in the evenings

Synonyms: propensity, proclivity, proneness, aptness, likelihood, inclination

Tumult: a loud, confused noise, especially one caused by a large mass of people.

Example: A tumult of shouting and screaming broke out

Synonyms: clamor, din, noise, racket, uproar, hue and cry, commotion, ruckus

Influx: an arrival or entry of large numbers of people or things.

Example: A massive influx of refugees from front-line areas

Synonyms: inundation, rush, stream, flood, incursion, invasion, intrusion

Robust: strong and healthy

Example: The Caplans are a robust, healthy lot

Synonyms: strong, vigorous, sturdy, tough, powerful, solid, muscular

Reckoning: the action or process of calculating or estimating something.

Example: Last year was not, by any reckoning, a particularly good one

Synonyms: calculation, estimation, count, computation, working out

Sustained: strengthen or support physically or mentally.

Example: This thought had sustained him throughout the years

Synonyms: comfort, help, assist, encourage, succor, support, give strength to

Catalyse: cause or accelerate a reaction by acting as a catalyst.

Example: This reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme citrate synthase.