NEW DELHI: Breaking all previous collection records, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) mopped up an impressive Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April, showing the robustness of the country’s economy and improving compliance under the indirect tax regime.
This is the first time since the implementation of the indirect tax regime in 2018 that the figure crossed the Rs 1.75 lakh crore mark. The April collections registered a 12 per cent year-on-year growth. Sequentially, it grew more than 14 per cent as the monthly collections stood at Rs 1.60 lakh crore in March.
Analysts say the high number could be partly attributed to the closing of FY23. M S Mani, partner with Deloitte India, said the record mop-up relates to the transactions in March, the closing month of FY23, where all organisations would have been keen to close the fiscal year on a high note.
He points out that the April figure comes after back-to-back collections of over Rs 1.4 lakh crore in FY23, and hence it is a testimony to the robust economic growth and the government’s enhanced efforts aimed at improving compliance.
Most of the large states have reported over 20 per cent growth in GST collection over the same period last year, indicating a broad level of growth across sectors and states. Madhya Pradesh recorded a 28 per cent jump in GST collection, followed by Karnataka at 23 per cent, Haryana 22 per cent, and Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra at 21 per cent each.
Abhishek Jain, partner and national head (indirect tax) at KPMG in India, said: “The highest ever GST collection is aligned to expectations, specifically with the increased e-way bills generated during March and reconciliations linked to year-end activities. With continued growth in collections and the government’s bid to control evasion, the cheer for increased collections could continue.”
Total number of e-way bills generated in the month of March 2023 was nine crore, which is 11% higher than 8.1 crore e-way bills generated in the month of February 2023.