GST mop-up hits ₹1.61L-cr in June, Q1 average at ₹1.7L-cr
India's Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue in June rose nearly 12% YoY to over ?1.61 lakh crore, the third-highest monthly collection ever, reflecting robust business activity and stricter compliance. The average monthly GST collection in Q1 2023-24 was ?1.69 lakh crore, suggesting that ?1.60 lakh crore will be the new normal for monthly revenue. The consistent growth in revenue indicates sustained economic momentum amid global headwinds. The Indian economy grew at 7.2% in 2022-23, surpassing the government's projection of 7%.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue in June this year saw a nearly 12% year-on-year jump at over ₹1.61 lakh crore, the third highest ever monthly collection, crossing the ₹1.60 lakh crore benchmark for the fourth time since the inception of the new tax regime on robust business activities and stricter compliance.
Cumulatively, average monthly GST collection in the first quarter (April-June) of 2023-24 was ₹1.69 lakh crore on the back of the highest-ever April revenue of ₹1.87 lakh crore, which indicates that the ₹1.60 lakh crore monthly revenue would be a new normal in FY24, experts said. The average tax revenue in the first quarter of the previous financial year (FY23) was ₹1.51 lakh crore.
Although the collection in the previous month ( ₹1.57 lakh crore in May 2023) fell marginally below the ₹1.60 lakh crore mark, year-on-year revenue growth in the three months of the first quarter maintained the range between 11.5% and 12%, exhibiting sustained growth momentum on the back of India’s robust economic performance amid global headwinds, experts said.
The Indian economy grew at 7.2% in 2022-23, surpassing the government’s own projection of 7%. Chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran last month said the economy is expected to grow in a range of 6.5% to 7% in FY24, which is more optimistic than the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) June 8 estimate of 6.5%.
According to official data released on Saturday, gross GST revenue collected in the month of June this year was ₹1,61,497 crore, which includes central GST (CGST) of ₹31,013 crore, state GST (SGST) of ₹38,292 crore, integrated GST (IGST) of ₹80,292 crore (including ₹39,035 crore collected on import of goods) and cess of ₹11,900 crore.
The government settled ₹36,224 crore to CGST and ₹30,269 crore to SGST from IGST. The total revenue of the Centre and states in the month of June after regular settlement was ₹67,237 crore and ₹68,561 crore, respectively.
MS Mani, partner at consultancy firm Deloitte India, said, “These collections, coming on the sixth anniversary of GST, would give policy makers room for comfort as the collections during Q1 FY24 are 12% higher than Q1 FY23.”
“They indicate that the extensive focus of the authorities on the compliance and ongoing audits have streamlined the approach of all businesses towards GST. The fact that state-wise collection growth is in the band of 10% to 20% for many of the large states would also indicate that uniformity of the growth and centralised approach to building tax-compliant behaviour,” he added.
In June this year, key manufacturing states reported a double-digit y-o-y growth in monthly GST collections. Maharashtra saw 17% growth at ₹26,098.78 crore, Karnataka 27% ( ₹11,193.20 crore), Gujarat 10% ( ₹10,119.71 crore), Tamil Nadu 20% ( ₹9,600.63 crore), Uttar Pradesh 19% ( ₹8,104.15 crore) and Haryana 19% ( ₹7,988.18 crore).
“Consistent breach of the 1.5 lakh crore mark is a big cheer for the government and economy; specifically on the date of completion of six years of this historical tax reform,” Abhishek Jain, partner & national head - Indirect Taxes at KPMG India, said, adding that with continued focus on anti-evasion measures, the trend of increasing collections is expected to continue.
According to official data, the monthly GST collections crossed ₹1.40 lakh crore for 16 months in a row and the ₹1.50 lakh crore mark for the seventh time since the new tax system came into being six years ago on July 1, 2017.
