GST: Government Collects Rs 95,610 Crore GST In May

Revenue from goods and services tax paid for the month of May was Rs 95,610 crore, said Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia at an event celebrating one year of GST.

This compares with Rs 94,016 crore collected in April and Rs 1.03 lakh crore in March.

Compliance improved during the month after the e-way bill launch as a total of 64.69 lakh GSTR-3B returns were filed for May, as on June 30, compared with 62.46 lakh returns filed for April, as on May 31. GST filing is done in the next month and the government releases tax collection figures on the first day of the succeeding month.

A government statement earlier today detailed the tax collected under various heads.

• Central Goods and Services Tax: Rs 15,968 crore
• State Goods and Services Tax: Rs 22,021 crore
• Integrated Goods and Services Tax: Rs 49,498 crore (includes Rs 24,493 crore collected on imports)
• Compensation Cess: Rs 8,122 crore

Settlement of IGST revenue in June added Rs 31,645 crore to CGST and Rs 36,683 crore to SGST, the government statement said.

The marginal rise in overall GST collections in June as compared to the previous month indicates consistency, stability and better compliance especially since introduction of e-way bill system, said Krishan Arora, partner at consulting firm Grant Thornton India.

Recently, in an interview with BloombergQuint, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said that while in the first few months of this financial year monthly collections will remain below the Rs 1 lakh crore mark, they are expected to stabilise by year end. Adhia told BloombergQuint that he expects GST revenue to pick up significantly thereafter, surpassing Rs 1 lakh crore per month in the subsequent six months due to higher consumption in the festive season.

Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, who was speaking at the GST Day function, said that he expects GST collections of Rs 13 lakh crore in the current financial year (FY2018-19). According to the government's budget estimates, it will collect Rs 6.03 lakh crore as CGST, while IGST and compensation cess revenue is pegged at Rs 50,000 crore and Rs 90,000 crore, respectively. This does not include states' share of GST and integrated GST.

It appears that the government will achieve its indirect tax collection target for the current financial year with this growth and better compliance in the months ahead, said Abhishek Rastogi, indirect tax partner at tax consultancy firm Khaitan and Company.

“As India completes one year of GST, the revenue collections in the last three months show a decent trajectory growth of revenue," Rastogi said in an emailed statement.

A steady and consistent increase in GST collections this financial year reflects achievement of better tax compliance objective of GST, said Abhishek Jain, indirect tax partner at EY India.

Additional provisional settlement of IGST was done in June, said the government statement. This comes after a similar such settlement in February.

"In the month of June, 2018 additional provisional settlement has been done and Rs. 50,000 crore has been settled between Centre and states."