GST rate cut boosts hotel industry, CBEC to introduce Document Identification Number: GST News In A Minute

The hospitality industry has started to benefit from the GST rate cut and taxpayers will no longer have to deal with errant tax officials; all this and more on #GSTThisWeek.

GST rate cut boosts hotel industry revenue
The hospitality industry is witnessing a boost in revenue in their September quarter after the slash in GST rates. 9 of 11 major markets reported better performance in revenue per available rooms (RevPAR) and average daily rates (ADR) as compared to the previous quarter. The Government had recently reduced GST from 28% to 18% for premium and luxury hotels with room tariffs of Rs 7,500 and above.

Central and State officers discuss evasion, returns and revenue boosting measures for GST
In a first of its kind meet interaction Central and State officers, a day long meeting was held on 11th November 2019 to discuss administrative, legal, revenue and implementation-related issues under the indirect tax regime. Usually, officer level meetings occur a day or two before GST council meetings. 

India's FY20 fiscal deficit forecast to 3.6% of GDP 
Ratings agency Fitch raised India's fiscal deficit forecast to 3.6% of the GDP for this fiscal year, from 3.4% previously, due to weak revenue collections resulting from slow economic growth and rate cut in corporate tax. The agency stated that revenue collection is likely to fall short of the projections in the FY2019/20 Union Budget due to poor GST and corporate income tax collections.   

Big relief for taxpayers as CBEC to introduce Document Identification Number
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has announced the introduction of a unique number in every communication with taxpayers to curb harassment by errant tax officials. CBEC will initially use a computer generated unique document identification number (DIN) for investigation related communications such as arrest warrants and search authorizations which will be later expanded to cover all the communication issued by the officers of the board. 

GST collection drops 5.29% to Rs95,380 crore in October
The revenue collected by way of GST in October 2019 stood at Rs.95,380 crore, which includes Central GST of Rs.17,582 crore, State GST of Rs. 23,674 crore, Integrated GST of Rs.46,517 crore (including Rs.21,446 crore collected on imports) and cess of Rs.7,607 crore (including Rs. 774 crore collected on imports). The low collection reflects low import demand amid an overall economic slowdown.

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