Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has called a meeting of tax officials from the Centre and States on December 9 to thrash out measures to arrest revenue leakages and increase collections under the GST. The Centre is said to be facing a financial squeeze as its share in GST between August and October amounted to Rs. 58,556 crore, while State GST was Rs. 87,238 crore for the period. The decline in the Centre's share in the GST has raised questions about meeting the fiscal deficit target of 3.2 percent for FY18. Even though the GST was rolled out five months ago from July 1, tax collections are yet to stabilize with several rate changes and confusion over compliance procedures among taxpayers which has led to relaxed returns filing schedules. A presentation on these issues is expected to be made before the GST Council when it meets in January. The Council has been closely tracking tax collections under the new levy. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi had recently said the average revenue shortfall of all States eased to 17.6 percent in October from 28.4 percent in August. But, with the rate cuts on 200 items, the shortfall could increase further in the coming months. States expect a revenue loss of about Rs. 20,000 crore annually from the rate cuts announced in the last meeting of the GST Council. Already, GST collections in October dipped significantly to Rs. 83,346 crore against Rs. 92,000 crore in September. The issue is significant given that the Centre's finances are under pressure as it tries to meet the fiscal deficit target of 3.2 percent in 2017-18. The government has said it hopes to meet the indirect tax collection target for the fiscal.