GST collections hit an all-time high of Rs 1.42 lakh crore in March
Highlight
- GST collections hit an all-time high of over Rs 1.42 lakh crore in March
- This is an increase of 15% annually due to rate rationalization and anti-theft measures
- The previous high was over Rs 1.40 lakh crore in January 2022
GST collections hit an all-time high of over Rs 1.42 lakh crore in March, a growth of 15 per cent annually, on account of rate rationalization and anti-evasion measures, the finance ministry said on Friday. With record collections, the Centre’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection has crossed the revised budget target of Rs 5.70 lakh crore set for the last financial year ended March 31, 2022.
The previous high for revenue collection from goods sold and services rendered was over Rs 1.40 lakh crore in January 2022. The average monthly gross GST collection in the previous quarter (January-March) stood at Rs 1.38 lakh crore, while the average collection in the first, second and third quarter was Rs 1.10 lakh crore, Rs 1.15 lakh crore and Rs 1.30 lakh crore respectively. ,
The ministry said, “Along with the economic reforms, anti-theft activities, especially action against counterfeit billers, are contributing to the increase in GST. Revenue reforms are also taking place through various measures undertaken by the council to correct the inverted duty structure.” This has happened due to rate rationalization measures,” the ministry said in a statement. Gross GST revenue collected in March 2022 was Rs 1,42,095 crore, of which Central GST was Rs 25,830 crore, State GST Rs 32,378 crore, Integrated GST Rs 74,470 crore (including Rs 39,131 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess Rs. 9,417 crore (including Rs 981 crore collected on import of goods). During the month, revenue from imports of goods was up 25 per cent, while revenue from domestic transactions (including import of services) was 11 per cent higher than revenue from these sources in March 2021.
The ministry said that the total number of e-way bills in the month of February 2022 stood at 6.91 crore, as compared to 6.88 crore in January 2022, despite being a shorter month, indicating recovery of business activity at a faster pace. The government has settled Rs 29,816 crore from IGST to Central GST and Rs 25,032 crore to SGST as regular settlement. In addition, the government has settled Rs 20,000 crore of IGST in March on an ad-hoc basis in the ratio of 50:50 between the Center and the States/UTs.
“The total revenue of the Center and the States in the month of March 2022 after regular and ad-hoc settlement is Rs 65,646 crore for CGST and Rs 67410 crore for SGST.
The Center also released GST compensation of Rs 18,252 crore to the States/UTs during the month.” MS Mani, Partner, Deloitte India, said that strong sales activity by corporates in March also helped the record GST collections, as They close the fiscal year with high revenue growth.
This had a direct impact on GST, which is a transaction tax.
“While state-wise variations exist in terms of growth in GST collections, it would be interesting to see an analysis linking the growth of state-wise GDP with the GST collections during the same period,” Mani said. Parag Mehta, partner, NA Shah Associates, said the reduction in the limit of e-invoicing from Rs 50 crore to Rs 20 crore is bound to lead to substantial growth in the coming months as well. “Further in the month of March there is usually an exercise by the business to regularize mistakes etc. and also collect tax which leads to higher recovery,” Mehta said.
Gross collection in April 2021 was Rs 1.39 lakh crore, May (Rs 97,821 crore), June (Rs 92,800 crore), July (over Rs 1.16 lakh crore), August (over Rs 1.12 lakh crore), September (over Rs. 1.17 lakh crore), October (over Rs 1.30 lakh crore), November (Rs 1.31 lakh crore), December (over Rs 1.29 lakh crore), January (Rs 1.40 lakh crore) and February (Rs 1.33 lakh crore).
Read also | Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill; Completed budgetary exercise for FY23