 "October GST collection rises 13% to Rs 1.72 trn, second-highest ever")
India's goods and services tax (GST) collections in October grew 13 per cent over a year earlier to Rs 1.72 trillion, mainly on account of stricter anti-evasion measures and higher festival-season consumer spending, showed data released by the finance ministry on Wednesday. This was the second-highest monthly figure ever, next only to the Rs 1.87 trillion collected in April this year.
The October number — 5.5 per cent higher than the Rs 1.63 trillion mop-up recorded in September — has taken the country’s average gross monthly GST collection in FY24 to Rs 1.66 trillion, 11 per cent higher on a year-on-year basis, the ministry said. Notably, this was the eighth straight month to see a collection of more than Rs 1.5 trillion.
Revenue from domestic transactions (including import of services) was also 13 per cent higher than that from the same sources in October last year. “The remarkable growth in GST collections over the past few months is not only on account of the underlying strong economic factors, but also due to the efforts of the tax authorities in deploying tools to compare data sets to determine short payment and evasion,” said M S Mani, partner, Deloitte India.
Of the total gross collection, Central GST (CGST) accounted for Rs 30,062 crore, state GST (SGST) Rs 38,171 crore, integrated GST (IGST) Rs 91,315 crore (including Rs 42,127 crore collected on import of goods), and cess Rs 12,456 crore (including Rs 1,294 crore on import of goods).
From IGST, the government has settled Rs 42,873 crore to CGST and Rs 36,614 crore to SGST. The total revenue for the Centre and states during the month after regular settlement came to Rs 72,934 crore and Rs 74,785 crore, respectively.
“This significantly increased collection could be linked to settlement of disputes for 2017-18 as the normal period of limitation was ending on September 30. A mid-year collection of such an increased number is definitely worth a cheer and the festivity-driven consumption could help this continue,” said Abhishek Jain, indirect tax head and partner, KPMG.
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Experts expect the trend to continue during the festival season. “The strong GST collection in the month could be a reflection of the resilience of the Indian economy. The collections next month are likely to be on the higher side due to the festival season,” said Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner, EY.
State-wise collection
The rise in collections in Jammu & Kashmir, Mizoram, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Sikkim, etc, indicates increased consumption and taxable base in these states and Union Territories. The growth rate across states during the month was over 10 per cent. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu recorded growth rates of 14 per cent, 12 per cent, 10 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.