Thread by @Shehzad_Ind

Dear Derek O’Brien ji,

Facts are good.. here are some for you on occasion of #5YearsofGST

GST growing steadily. 18 out of 20 months revenue higher than Rs 1 lakh cr. For 8 months now, revenue higher than Rs 1.2 lakh cr- every one of the last 5 was above Rs 1.4 lakh cr. (1/6)

This is not to mention the fact that GST revenue came in at an astounding and record-smashing Rs 1.68 lakh cr in April 2022, which sets the tone for the ongoing financial year. (2/6)

States are seeing higher revenue under GST than from the various taxes that were subsumed in GST. Before GST, the States earned around Rs 4.5 lakh crore from the taxes that were eventually subsumed by GST. Revenue from just SGST increased to Rs 6.4 lakh crore by 2021-22. (3/6)

How is it fair that you can in the first point talk about lower revenue and in the third point talk about low tax rates? It is the achievement of this Govt that, despite lower tax rates, the revenue has been growing so remarkably. (4/6)

Regarding evasion of GST and detection, it is important to note that it is precisely the strength of GST that is allowing this evasion to come to light. The first step is detection. The recovery will also soon catch up. (5/6)

For the final point, it should be a point of pride for somebody who can say that India transformed our disparate and massively complex indirect tax regime into the simple structure we have today with such few changes. It shows good planning and execution. (6/6)

Here is a detailed piece penned by @nsitharaman ji on #5YearsofGST for Indian Express