New Delhi, May 2 (FN Agency) Goods and services tax (GST) collection rose 12% year-on-year in April 2023 to Rs 1,87,035 crore, the highest ever monthly mop-up. Of the total revenue collected during the period, CGST is Rs 38,440 crore, SGST is Rs 47,412 crore, IGST is Rs 89,158 crore (including Rs 34,972 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 12,025 crore (including Rs 901 crore collected on import of goods). “The government has settled Rs 45,864 crore to CGST and Rs 37,959 crore to SGST from IGST. The total revenue of Centre and the States in the month of April 2023 after regular settlement is Rs 84,304 crore for CGST and Rs 85,371 crore for the SGST,” a release from Finance Ministry said. The data released by the Finance Ministry on Monday showed majority of large states reporting 20% plus growth in GST collection over the same period last year. M S Mani, Partner, Deloitte India said that the high double-digit jump in GST collection indicated a broad level growth across sectors and states. He noted that the record GST collections relates to the transactions during March 2023, the closing month of FY23, where all organisations would have been keen to close the fiscal year on a high note.
“This comes on the back of the monthly GST collections crossing Rs 1.4 lakh crores continuously during FY23 and hence is a testimony to the good economic growth and the enhanced efforts aimed at improving compliances,” he said. The Finance Ministry said that during April the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) were 16% higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year. “For the first time gross GST collection has crossed Rs 1.75 lakh crore mark. Total number of e-way bills generated in the month of March 2023 was 9.0 crore, which is 11% higher than 8.1 crore e-way bills generated in the month of February 2023,” it said.Notably, the month of April saw the highest ever tax collection on a single day on 20th April 2023 when Rs 68,228 crore was paid through 9. 8 lakh transactions.
The highest single day payment last year (on the same date) was Rs 57,846 crore through 9.6 lakh transactions. “GST collections displayed a robust year-end uptick with a 12% expansion in April 2023, representing the transactions in March 2023. While collections have maintained a healthy 11-13% growth in the 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. Industry body Assocham said record GST numbers are indicative of robust growth of the Indian economy on the back of a strong pick-up in consumer demand.