Continuing the spree of robust tax collections during 2022-23 which has given policymakers much room for cheer, the finance ministry posted a record Rs 1.87 lakh crore Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collection for April 2023, which is a 12 per cent increase — Rs 19,495 crore – more than the collection of Rs 1,67,540 crore in April 2022. With this, for the first time gross GST collection has crossed Rs 1.75 lakh crore mark, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.
The gross GST revenue collected in the month of April, 2023 is Rs 1,87,035 crore of which Central GST is Rs 38,440 crore, State GST is Rs 47,412 crore and IGST or Integrated GST, is Rs 89,158 crore. The IGST comprises Rs 34,972 crore collected on import of goods and cess of Rs 12,025 crore of which ₹901 crore has been collected on import of goods. transactions. Lauding the “great news for the Indian economy”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Rising tax collection despite lower tax rates shows the success of how GST has increased integration and compliance.”
During the month of April, the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) are 16 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year. The Government has been on a relentless drive towards coverage of more enterprises under the tax net and use of technology to boost the share of GST collections in GDP which has resulted in a healthy rising trend. The highest tax collected on a single day ever, as per the Finance Ministry, stands at Rs 68,228 crore which was paid through 9. 8 lakh transactions. The highest single day payment last year (on the same date) was Rs 57,846 crore through 9.6 lakh.
“The GST collections display a robust year-end uptick,” says Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist of ICRA Ratings. According to DK Srivastava Chief Policy Advisor, Ernst & Young, India, among indirect taxes, the Central Government’s GST revenues showed a strong growth of 20.2 per cent during April-February of financial year 2023 as compared to 29.5 per cent during the corresponding period of FY22.
In March 2023, Government data shows the total number of e-way bills was 9.0 crore, which is 11 per cent higher than 8.1 crore e-way bills generated in the month of February 2023. The government has settled Rs 45,864 crore to CGST and Rs 37,959 crore to SGST from IGST. The total revenue of Centre and the States in the month of April 2023 after regular settlement is Rs 84,304 crore for CGST and Rs 85,371 crore for the SGST. In the view of Amnish Aggarwal, Head of Research at Prabhudas Lilladher, “GST collections are more than Rs 1.4 trillion for 11 straight months.” Aggarwal identifies the triggers as railway freight tonnage in March 23 which grew by 3.8 per cent, electricity generation and peak power demand which remained in positive mode and FMCG sales growth recovered with higher growth in paints, cigarettes and select food categories. “Auto demand remained steady on 23 March. Broader demand across segments is showing signs of revival albeit at a moderate pace,” explains Aggarwal.
Nayar, however, cautions that while GST collections have maintained a healthy 11-13 per cent growth in the recent months, a normalising base and some cooling of inflation may moderate the pace of expansion slightly in the coming quarter, although it would remain in the high single digits.