Nirmala Sitharaman Says 90% of GST Paid By Top 22% Firms

The top 22% of enterprises in India with a turnover of at least Rs 50 crore paid about 90% of the goods and services tax, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Parliament on Tuesday.

According to an Oxfam International analysis, 64% of the total Rs 14.83 lakh crore GST in 2021-22 came from the poorest 50% of the population in terms of income category, with only 3% coming from the top 10%.

In the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman responded in writing to a query based on the report. The report, according to the minister, was based on “various improbable assumptions and not irrefutable or verifiable facts.” She stated that it was impossible to compute the amount of GST paid and who paid it.

According to her, the indirect tax report was based on predicted expenditure on specific food and non-food goods. “As a result, the percentage is not based on total GST revenue, but on GST from only a few specific items.” It is unknown what things were confiscated by the Oxfam report.”

As per Sitharaman, because GST is an indirect tax, it is collected from providers of products and services rather than from final consumers of goods and services.

To be sure, the supplier of goods and services is responsible for depositing GST, but the fee is passed on to consumers.

To keep the incidence of taxation on mass consumption items low, goods such as unpackaged food grains, fruits and vegetables, and services such as education and health are exempt from the GST. She stated that items such as edible oil, life-saving medicines, and fertilizers are all taxed at the lowest rate of 5%.

Oxfam released its annual inequality report on January 16, the first day of the World Economic Forum’s annual conference in Davos. According to the supplement on India, the richest 1% currently hold more than 40% of the country’s total wealth, while the lowest half of the population collectively owns only 3%.