CAG’s GST audit focuses on implementation of goods and services tax and not on GST collections since the tax reform came into effect on 1 July 2017

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is conducting performance audit of goods and services tax (GST) and is likely to finalise its report soon. The performance audit report on GST implementation could be tabled in Parliament as early as in the forthcoming Winter Session beginning 11 December, according to people aware of the matter.

The CAG is auditing the functioning of the new indirect tax regime since its implementation on 1 July 2017. The audit aspect would include registration, refund, input tax credit, transition credit mechanism, ease of payment of taxes and the impact on the economic activity, the people said.

The CAG team has already visited the GST commissionerates in major states to get clarity on the functioning of the new indirect tax system and its efficiency and effectiveness, the people said. As part of the performance audit, the CAG looks at programmes, systems and activities to check if they are in accordance with the principles of economy and whether there is any scope for further improvement.

The GST audit will not take into account revenue collections. Its focus would primarily be on the implementation aspect of new tax regime that has subsumed 17 local taxes.

Tagged as the biggest tax reform since Independence, GST has faced some teething problems in the initial months of its implementation with the GST Network (GSTN) unable to take load of last minute monthly return filing rush.

Also, there were hiccups with respect to refunds to be claimed by exporters as well as excessive transitional credit claims.

The monthly average revenue collection from GST in the previous fiscal (July 2017-March 2018) was ?89,885 crore. In the current fiscal, GST collections stood at ?1.03 trillion in April, ?94,016 crore in May, ?95,610 crore in June, ?96,483 crore in July, ?93,960 crore in August, ?94,442 crore in September and ?1 trillion in October.