Agartala: The GST collection of Tripura has increased substantially in the past four financial years.

A report prepared by the state Finance department revealed that in the year 2018, the state collected Rs 608.71 crore as GST including compensation and back-to-back loans which in the last financial year rose to 1,785.51 crore.

While without compensation, the state’s GST collections stood at 1,282.69 crore in the last financial year, the report prepared on the occasion of five years of GST celebration revealed. According to the report, from 2017-18 the GST collection continued to grow in the state.

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“In 2018-19 the total collections were recorded to be 1,132.44 crore which increased to Rs 1,197.64 crore in 2019-20 financial year. In 2020-21 total collection was 1,558.51 crore and in the last fiscal year the total collection was 1,785.51 crore”, the report reads.

Meanwhile, an event was organized to mark the fifth year of GST at the Hapania International Fairground. A number of taxpayers were felicitated for being consistent in tax paying.

Addressing the function, Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, also the Finance Minister, said, “GST has brought all the states into one single umbrella of taxation. It is a symbol of cooperation between states and the central government in terms of taxes. All the states are diverse in nature; all have their own unique economic challenges but still, the GST council has brought all the states under the same roof.”

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Describing the present system of taxation as taxpayers friendly, Dev Varma said, “The taxation in previous regimes were coercive in nature while introduction of GST turned into an cooperative system. Apart from that, the central government has also brought a number of economic reforms that have democratized the system. Jan Dhan is a big example of that. People of all classes have been linked with the credit system of banks through Jan Dhan Yojana”.