NEW DELHI: The growth in Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection has started showing signs of moderation with gross collections in August 2024 rising by 10 per cent to Rs 1.75 lakh crore compared to Rs 1.59 lakh crore in the same month the previous year.
In July 2024, the gross collection increased by 10.3 per cent while in August 2023, gross GST collections rose by 11 per cent.
The slowdown in the net GST collection was even more prominent, with the August collection rising by a mere 6.5 per cent to Rs 1.50 lakh crore. This is on account of a 38 per cent increase in refunds. In July, the net GST collection was up 14.14 per cent.
In FY24, gross collections grew by 11.65 per cent, while in the previous year, the collections rose by 21.5 per cent. This year till August (April-August 2024), the gross GST revenue has only grown by 10 per cent.
The deceleration in GST collection may reflect moderation in economic activities as was evident from the first quarter GDP numbers, which came lower at 6.8 per cent compared to 8.2 per cent in the year-ago period.
MS Mani, partner, Deloitte India, however, feels that with the festive season ahead, economic activities and consumption would improve.
On a gross basis, revenue from domestic transactions in August 2024 increased by 9.2 per cent to Rs 1.25 lakh crore while revenue from imports increased by 12per cent to Rs 49,900 crore, thus imports accounting for 28.5 per cent of the gross collections during the month.
Of the total Rs 1.74 lakh crore gross collection, Rs 30,862 crore was collected as Central GST, Rs 38,411 crore as State GST and Rs 93,621 crore as Integrated GST. An amount of Rs 12,068 crore was collected as Cess.
The moderation in GST revenue growth could also be on account of large states like Tamil Nadu (7 per cent), Gujarat (6 per cent), Bihar (8 per cent), Rajasthan (5 per cent) and West Bengal (6 per cent) showing single-digit growth. Among larger states, Andhra Pradesh reported a 5per cent decline in collection.
“The ability of large states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, UP, MP and Haryana to record double-digit increases in collections once again indicates the robust consumption in these states accompanied by the tax authorities' measures to improve compliance and crack down on evasion. However, the single-digit increase in large states like Gujarat, AP and Tamil Nadu would engage the attention of the tax authorities in these states,” says MS Mani of Deloitte.