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

India's monthly goods and services tax revenue remained above Rs 1.4 lakh crore for the seventh month in a row.

GST collections for September, reflecting transactions in August, stood at Rs 1,47,686 crore, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Finance.

It is a 26% jump over GST revenues a year ago, and a marginal rise from the GST revenue for July which stood at Rs 1,43,612 crore.

According to MS Mani, partner at Deloitte India, these collections would provide more headroom on the fiscal front.

"The collections in the next three months are expected to be even more robust due to the higher consumption expected during the festive season and the extension of the mandatory e-invoice protocol to taxpayers having turnover above Rs 10 crore from Oct. 1."

The government expects GST mop-up to cross the Rs 1.5 lakh crore mark from October, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj had said earlier in September, while speaking at a Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs event in Mumbai.

Till now, the Rs 1.5 lakh crore mark has been breached only once with the April collections—which were the highest ever recorded—at Rs 1.67 lakh crore.

The statement also said that during the month, revenues from import of goods was 39% higher and revenues from domestic transaction—including import of services—were 22% higher compared to the same month last year.

In August, 7.7 crore e-way bills were generated, which was marginally higher than 7.5 crore generated in July, indicating improving mobility.

Break-Up Of GST Collection

• Gross GST revenue: Rs 1,47,686 crore.

• Central GST: Rs 25,271 crore.

• State GST: Rs 31,813 crore.

• Integrated GST: Rs 80,464 crore (including Rs 41,215 crore collected on import of goods).

• Cess: Rs 10,137 crore (including Rs 856 crore collected on import of goods).

State-wise GST collections were topped by Maharashtra, in terms of value, owing to the size of the tax base. It registered 29% growth in collections at Rs 21,403 crore.

However, in terms of annual growth, Haryana (33%), West Bengal (27%) and Karnataka (25%) were the leading performers.

At a Central Board of Direct Taxes award function on Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that direct taxes were contributing revenue equally, if not slightly more than indirect tax.

According to her, the sustaining growth momentum of direct taxation had proved that direct taxes were "equitable" and "just" as compared to indirect taxes.

While direct taxes are paid proportional to income levels, indirect taxes draw from GST as one of its sources, which is a tax on goods and services used by all consumers.