Hindi English Translation || Editorial || A reform window: On the GST trajectory

A reform window: On the GST trajectory

Buoyant (प्रसन्न) GST revenues create a chance to prioritise (प्राथमिकता देना) its overhaul

The financial year 2023-24 appears to have ended on a high (in a condition of great excitement and happiness; ecstatic, thrilled, elated, over the moon, delirious, euphoric, on cloud nine, in seventh heaven) on the revenue front (a particular area of activity; a particular situation). Net direct tax collections rose 19.9% by mid-March to hit 97% of revised Budget targets, while the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has yielded (produce, give, generate, provide, bring in, furnish, contribute) a robust (मजबूत, शक्तिशाली) ₹20.18 lakh crore. Gross (total, complete, entire, overall) GST revenues in March, for transactions undertaken (begin, start; engage in, become involved in) in February, crossed ₹1.78 lakh crore, the second highest tally (total, count) since the rollout (official launch/introduction) of the indirect tax six and a half years ago. The only month when collection stood higher was in April 2023, aided (सहायता, समर्थन) by year-end compliances (अनुपालन, अनुरूपता). There is a good chance the same compliance effects will lift (raise, increase, improve, enhance) this month’s tally past ₹2 lakh crore, marking (चिह्नित करना) a fresh high. Average monthly collections have grown 11.6% in 2023-24 to over ₹1.68 lakh crore. The growth may be lower than the previous year’s 21.8% uptick (a small increase or upward trend) but establishes (स्थापित करना) a new normal for revenues that the coming year can build on (पर निर्माण). This should settle the Centre’s concerns that the GST has not yielded expected returns (yield, profit, dividend, gain, income). Central GST collections in 2023-24 have overshot revised estimates presented in the interim (अंतरिम) Budget and the Finance Ministry may have to revise its 2024-25 targets when it presents the full Budget as those can now be achieved even if growth slips (fall, sink, go down, decrease) below 10%.

Some of the increase in collections may well stem from (originate from, come from, be rooted in, emanate from, flow from, proceed from, result from, be consequent on) tax demands (a document mentioning how much tax a person or organization has to pay) raised for past years and tightening the screws on known evasion (dodging, bypassing/sidestepping, circumvention) routes such as fake invoices and fraudulent (dishonest, unlawful, unethical, unprincipled) input tax credits (an amount of money that taxpayers can subtract from taxes owed to the government). Yet, an uptick in growth of net GST revenues, which the government has started revealing (lay bare, disclose, show, display, exhibit) since last month, and the rise in gross collections from domestic transactions (17.6% compared with 13.6% in February) suggest (indicate, denote, point to, signify) economic activity has been busy in the last quarter (तिमाही) of 2023-24. Perhaps (शायद, संभवतः), the only worry is a 5% decline in GST on goods imports during March, from an 8.5% rise in February, which may signal some cutbacks (कटौती) in discretionary (विवेकाधीन) consumption. Yet, the overall GST trajectory should give the next government comfort to focus on much-needed (बहुत जरूरी) reforms to the tax. This must include retrieving (get back, regain, reclaim, reacquire, recapture) the plan to rationalise (modernise, streamline, make more efficient, hone, simplify, reorganize) its multiple rates from deep freeze (suspension, hold/halt, standstill), expanding it to excluded items such as electricity and petroleum products, and reducing high levies on key products such as cement and insurance. The GST Compensation (Under the GST law (In India), state governments are guaranteed full compensation for any revenue loss for the first five years after the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) in July 2017. The compensation is a gap between actual revenue collected and projected revenue) Cess, now being used to repay the COVID-19 pandemic (the worldwide spread of a new disease; The illness spreads around the world and typically affects a large number of people across a wide area)-era borrowings (In finance and economics, borrowing generally refers to receiving money. In simple terms, borrowing can be illustrated as the act of receiving a certain amount of money with the intention that the receiver will have to return the same amount of money after a fixed span of time) made to recompense (compensate, repay, settle (for loss/damage)) States, raked in ₹1.44 lakh crore last year, and it is likely (probably, presumably, potentially, doubtlessly) possible to wind it down earlier than the extended March 2026 deadline. It is critical to resist the temptation (desire, lure, impulse, inclination, attraction) to replace it with a new levy (imposition, charging, raising, collection (of a tax, fee, fine)) except for truly demerit goods (goods which are deemed/considered as harmful to society and individuals, for example alcohol and tobacco, etc) such as tobacco. Taxing hybrid vehicles (a vehicle that utilizes more than one fuel sources or two or more different fuel sources to operate and to move the vehicle or a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle wherein the means of propulsion is by engine which is a combination of IC (internal combustion engine petrol/diesel) engine and an electric motor) over 40%, for instance (as an example), makes no sense, either for India’s green goals (energy efficient goals (including achieving 50 percent of total electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based resources and reducing the carbon footprint of GDP by 45 percent by 2030) or boosting consumption and spurring private investments.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.trajectory (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रक्षेपवक्र
English Meaning - track/course, route, path, direction, approach.

2.buoyant (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - प्रसन्न
English Meaning - booming, progressing, improving, thriving, growing, developing, going strong.

3.prioritise (verb)

Hindi Meaning - प्राथमिकता देना
English Meaning - make a point of, highlight, call attention to (something as very important).

4.robust (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - मजबूत, शक्तिशाली
English Meaning - strong, powerful.

5.aid (verb)

Hindi Meaning - सहायता, समर्थन
English Meaning - help, assist, support.

6.compliance (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अनुपालन, अनुरूपता
English Meaning - adherence, observance, conformity.

7.mark (verb)

Hindi Meaning - चिह्नित करना
English Meaning - indicate, signify, represent (a significant stage).

8.establish (verb)

Hindi Meaning - स्थापित करना
English Meaning - start/begin, create, initiate, put in place, bring into being.

9.build on (phrasal verb)

Hindi Meaning - पर निर्माण
English Meaning - develop, improve, enhance, enlarge, expand on.

10.interim (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - अंतरिम
English Meaning - provisional, temporary, short-term, transitional.

11.quarter (noun)

Hindi Meaning - तिमाही
English Meaning - a period of three months (considered as one-fourth of a year).

12.perhaps (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - शायद, संभवतः
English Meaning - maybe, possibly, probably, conceivably, it is possible (that).

13.cutback (noun)

Hindi Meaning - कटौती
English Meaning - reduction, decrease.

14.discretionary (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - विवेकाधीन
English Meaning - optional, voluntary, subjective, up to the individual, non-mandatory, non-compulsory.

15.much-needed (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - बहुत जरूरी
English Meaning - very necessary.

16.window (noun)

English Meaning - opportunity, chance, opening.

17.overhaul (noun)

English Meaning - reformation, transformation, reorganization, rearrangement.

18.on a high (phrase)

English Meaning - in a condition of great excitement and happiness; ecstatic, thrilled, elated, over the moon, delirious, euphoric, on cloud nine, in seventh heaven.

19.front (noun)

English Meaning - a particular area of activity; a particular situation.

20.hit (verb)

English Meaning - reach, attain, touch (a particular level/point).

21.yield (verb)

English Meaning - produce, give, generate, provide, bring in, furnish, contribute.

22.gross (adjective)

English Meaning - total, complete, entire, overall.

23.undertake (verb)

English Meaning - begin, start; engage in, become involved in.

24.tally (noun)

English Meaning - total, count.

25.rollout (noun)

English Meaning - official launch/introduction.

26.lift (verb)

English Meaning - raise, increase, improve, enhance.

27.uptick (noun)

English Meaning - a small increase or upward trend.

28.the new normal (phrase)

English Meaning - an earlier unusual situation that becomes a standard now.

29.return (noun)

English Meaning - yield, profit, dividend, gain, income.

30.overshoot (verb)

English Meaning - go beyond, go a little further than, pass over (a limit); overrun, overreach, overpass.

31.slip (verb)

English Meaning - fall, sink, go down, decrease.

32.stem from (verb)

English Meaning - originate from, come from, be rooted in, emanate from, flow from, proceed from, result from, be consequent on.

33.tax demand (noun)

English Meaning - a document mentioning how much tax a person or organization has to pay.

34.tighten the screws (phrase)

English Meaning - to apply more pressure on someone/something.

35.evasion (noun)

English Meaning - dodging, bypassing/sidestepping, circumvention.

36.fraudulent (adjective)

English Meaning - dishonest, unlawful, unethical, unprincipled.

37.tax credit (noun)

English Meaning - an amount of money that taxpayers can subtract from taxes owed to the government.

38.reveal (verb)

English Meaning - lay bare, disclose, show, display, exhibit.

39.suggest (verb)

English Meaning - indicate, denote, point to, signify.

40.cut back (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - reduce, cut, decrease.

41.retrieve (verb)

English Meaning - get back, regain, reclaim, reacquire, recapture.

42.rationalise (verb)

English Meaning - modernise, streamline, make more efficient, hone, simplify, reorganize.

43.freeze (noun)

English Meaning - suspension, hold/halt, standstill.

44.deep freeze (noun)

English Meaning - suspension (on hold) for a long period of time.

45.levy (noun)

English Meaning - imposition, charging, raising, collection (of a tax, fee, fine).

46.compensation (noun)

English Meaning - payment, repayment, settlement (for loss/damage).

47.GST Compensation (noun)

English Meaning - Under the GST law (In India), state governments are guaranteed full compensation for any revenue loss for the first five years after the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) in July 2017. The compensation is a gap between actual revenue collected and projected revenue.

48.cess (noun)

English Meaning - a form of tax charged/levied over and above the base tax liability of a taxpayer. A cess is usually imposed additionally when the state or the central government looks to raise funds for specific purposes.

49.pandemic (noun)

English Meaning - the worldwide spread of a new disease; The illness spreads around the world and typically affects a large number of people across a wide area.

50.borrowing (noun)

English Meaning - In finance and economics, borrowing generally refers to receiving money. In simple terms, borrowing can be illustrated as the act of receiving a certain amount of money with the intention that the receiver will have to return the same amount of money after a fixed span of time.

51.recompense (verb)

English Meaning - compensate, repay, settle (for loss/damage).

52.rake in (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - earn, get, obtain, acquire, make (a lot of something, i.e. money).

53.likely (adverb)

English Meaning - probably, presumably, potentially, doubtlessly.

54.wind down (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - come to an end, draw to a close, wind up, close down.

55.temptation (noun)

English Meaning - desire, lure, impulse, inclination, attraction.

56.demerit goods (noun)

English Meaning - goods which are deemed/considered as harmful to society and individuals, for example alcohol and tobacco, etc.

57.hybrid (adjective)

English Meaning - composed/combined of different elements.

58.hybrid vehicle (noun)

English Meaning - a vehicle that utilizes more than one fuel sources or two or more different fuel sources to operate and to move the vehicle or a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle wherein the means of propulsion is by engine which is a combination of IC (internal combustion engine petrol/diesel) engine and an electric motor.

59.for instance (phrase)

English Meaning - as an example.

60.make sense (phrase)

English Meaning - be accepted, be convincing, hold up, prove true.

61.make no sense (phrase)

English Meaning - illogical, nonsensical, unreasoned, irrational.

62.green goals (noun)

English Meaning - energy efficient goals (including achieving 50 percent of total electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based resources and reducing the carbon footprint of GDP by 45 percent by 2030.