CST Collections Records 8.88% Growth

New Delhi: Central Sales Tax (CST) collections registered 8.88 per cent increase in fiscal 2006-07 to Rs 19,749.21 crore compared with Rs 18,138.18 crore collected in fiscal 2005-06. This growth rate is fairly below expectations and also much lower than the near 20 per cent increase in collections witnessed in fiscal 2005-06. Annual CST collections during 2004-05 was about Rs 15,000 crore. A four-step phaseout of CST has already been initiated, with the ceiling rate reduced from 4 to 3 per cent on April 1 this year. States have pegged the total revenue loss due to the decrease in CST at about Rs 6,350 crore during 2007-08. Given the growth trend in CST collections in 2006-07, sources said that the estimation of revenue loss of Rs 6,350 crore for 2007-08 may be on the higher side.