India’s GST collection hits an all-time high of Rs 1.87 trillion in April

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India’s goods and services tax (GST) collection in April rose 12 per cent year-on-year to hit an all-time high of Rs 1.87 trillion, the finance ministry data showed on Monday. The robust mop-up was mainly driven by a boost in year-end sales, data analytics ensuring better compliance, and sustained economic growth.

The previous highest collection was Rs 1.68 trillion in April last year, while the mop-up stood at Rs 1.60 trillion in March this year.

April 2023 also saw the highest ever tax collection on a single day. “On April 20, Rs 68,228 crore was paid through 9.8 lakh transactions,” the ministry said in a release.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed it as “great news for the Indian economy”. “Rising tax collection despite lower tax rates shows the success of how GST has increased integration and compliance,” he tweeted.

Of the gross GST collection, Central GST stood at Rs 38,440 crore, SGST at Rs 47,412 crore, IGST at Rs 89,158 crore (including Rs 34,972 crore collected on import of goods), and cess at Rs 12,025 crore, according to the data.

The finance ministry said that after the settlement of interstate transactions, the Centre collected Rs 84,304 crore as Central GST, while states collected Rs 85,371 crore as SGST.

GST cess on high-end products, tobacco, and aerated drinks fetched Rs 12,025 crore, which goes to repaying the liquidity support extended to states during the pandemic in lieu of their GST compensation.

“The record GST collection relates to the transactions during March, the closing month of FY23, where all organisations would have been keen to close the fiscal year on a high note,” said M S Mani, partner, Deloitte India.

He added that a majority of large states reported a 20 per cent plus growth over the same period last year, indicating a broad-level growth across sectors and states.

Among states, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh registered more than 20 per cent annual growth in GST revenue in April, while Punjab and Tamil Nadu posted 16 per cent and 19 per cent growth respectively. Delhi reported an 8 per cent annual growth.

“For the first time, gross GST collection has crossed the Rs 1.75-trillion mark. Total number of e-way bills generated in the month of March 2023 was 90 million, 11 per cent higher than the 81 million e-way bills generated in February 2023,” the ministry said.

E-way bill is the generation of electronic permits for goods transportation within and across states.
“While collections have maintained a healthy 11-13 per cent growth in recent months, a normalising base and some cooling of inflation may moderate the pace of expansion slightly in the coming quarter, although it would remain in the high single digits,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA.

“Tax collections continue to show a positive trend as the government uses end-to-end data analytics to ensure effective administration. The increased collections are likely an indicator of a stable growth in the Indian economy,” said Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner, EY LLP. (BS)