NEW DELHI: The goods and services tax (GST) revenue registered a massive resurgence in October, with tax collections reaching the second-highest monthly tally of Rs 1.72 lakh crore since the GST implementation.
This represents a robust growth of 13.4% compared to the GST collection in the same month the previous year. In September, growth in indirect tax collections had slowed to a 27-month low of 10.2%.
The finance ministry revealed that domestic transactions and services imports played a significant role in driving the uptick, contributing to a 13% increase in October’s GST revenue.
GST compensation cess collections reached a record high of Rs 12,456 crore in October, surpassing the previous peak of Rs 12,025 crore in April. Preliminary calculations suggest GST levies on imported goods experienced a faster growth of 13.9% in October, outpacing the growth from domestic transactions.
April 2023 recorded the highest-ever GST revenue of Rs 1.87 lakh crore. Currently, the average gross monthly GST collection in the fiscal year 2023-24 stands at Rs 1.66 lakh crore, marking an 11% increase compared to the same period last year. Commenting on the revenue collection, Pratik Jain, Partner, Price Waterhouse & Co LLP, said, “GST collections have been robust for last many months now and have been higher than estimate for FY2024. The sales push towards end of September quarter, coupled with higher consumer demand due to festival season may have contributed to the increase as well.”
Vivek Jalan, Partner, Tax Connect Advisory, a multi-disciplinary tax consultancy firm, said, “While the GST figures for October 2023 show a growth of 13% over last year, the cumulative growth of GST revenue for the period April 2023 - Oct 2023 vis-a-vis same period last year is 11% as against the budgeted 12% growth of CGST+SGST+Compensation Cess revenue.”