GST Collections Stay Above Rs 1.4 Lakh Crore For Sixth Straight Month

India's monthly good and services tax revenue remained above Rs 1.4 lakh crore for the sixth month in a row on account of better compliance.

GST revenue for July, collected in August, stood at Rs 1,43,612 crore, according to a finance ministry statement. That's a 28% jump over the year-ago period.

The collections indicate a new monthly average baseline at Rs 1.4 lakh crore.

During the month, revenue from import of goods was 57% higher, and the revenue from domestic transaction (including import of services) was 19% higher than the corresponding year-ago period.

The e-way bills generated for July stood at 7.6 crore against 7.4 crore in June, indicating mobility and robust economic activity.

Break-Up Of GST Collection

• Gross GST revenue: Rs 1,43,612 crore

• Central GST: Rs 24,710 crore

• State GST: Rs 30,951 crore

• Integrated GST: Rs 77,782 crore (including Rs 42,067 crore collected on import of goods)

• Cess: Rs 10,168 crore (including Rs 1,018 crore collected on import of goods)

“This is a clear impact of various measures taken by the [GST] council in the past to ensure better compliance. Better reporting, coupled with economic recovery, has been having a positive impact on the GST revenue on a consistent basis,” the ministry statement said.

The growth momentum of the Indian economy has sustained even beyond Q1 of 2022-23, the ministry had said in a media briefing on Wednesday.

ICRA Ltd.'s Aditi Nayar is hopeful that the buoyant collections will help the government offset the excise duty cuts on fuel announced earlier in May.

“The YoY growth in GST collections is likely to remain well above 20% in September 2022, before tempering down to 12-15% in Q3 FY2023, on a normalising base, trending close to the nominal GDP expansion,” she said. “We continue to foresee a considerable upside in the CGST collections relative to the FY2023 BE, more than offsetting the expected loss in excise collections.”

State-Wise Progress

Among states, Maharashtra topped by quantum of revenue owing to the size of the tax base. It registered 24% growth in collections at Rs 18,863 crore.

Karnataka saw the second-highest collections at Rs 9,583 crore. That's a rise of 29% over the year earlier.

Gujarat saw 15% increase, while Tamil Nadu reported a 19% rise in collections. Their respective revenue during the month stood at Rs 8,684 crore and Rs 8,386 crore.