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Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections grew 10.8 per cent to Rs 1.65 lakh crore in July, marking the third highest level since the rollout of the indirect tax regime in July 2017 and crossing the Rs 1.6 lakh crore mark for the fifth time since the rollout.
GST revenue collected last month was Rs 1,65,105 crore of which Central GST — the tax levied on intra-state supplies of goods and services by the Centre — was Rs 29,773 crore, State GST — the tax levied on intra-state supplies of goods and services by the states — was Rs 37,623 crore, Integrated GST — the tax levied on all inter-state supplies of goods and services — was Rs 85,930 crore (including Rs 41,239 crore collected on import of goods) and cess was Rs 11,779 crore (including Rs 840 crore collected on import of goods).
Revenues for the month were 10.8 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year, the finance ministry said in a statement. During the month, revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) were 15 per cent higher than revenues from these sources during the same month last year. It is for the fifth time, gross GST collection has crossed Rs 1.60 lakh crore mark, the ministry added. In June, the GST collection was Rs 1,61,497 crore.
“The progressive reduction in the e-invoicing turnover limits accompanied by the large increase in the number of statewise GST audits has led to all businesses becoming more GST compliant leading to increasingly stable GST collections month after month,” MS Mani, Partner, Deloitte India, said.
Revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) are 15 per cent higher on-year in July of the current financial year.
In July, the government settled Rs 39,785 crore to Central GST and Rs 33,188 crore to State GST from Integrated GST.
As a result, the total revenue for the month post settlement was Rs 69,558 crore for the Centre and Rs 70,811 crore for State GST. “There is a clear divergence between revenues on collections on account of domestic transactions (including imports of services) and that on account of imported goods, with the latter averaging at just 0.8 per cent YoY during April-July 2023, reflecting the compression in merchandise imports,” Icra chief economist Aditi Nayar said.
“This divergence is set to continue owing to the expectation of a contraction in merchandise imports in FY2024.”
“As per our analysis, GST collections need to exceed Rs 1.65 trillion/month in the remaining eight months of this fiscal to meet the FY2024 target for CGST revenues of Rs 8.1 trillion, which seems realistic,” Nayar added.
The latest GST data takes the average monthly collection in 2023-24 to Rs 1.68 lakh crore. Monthly GST collections have risen over the years.
From averaging under Rs 1 lakh crore per month in 2017-18 – its first year – collections rose rapidly after the pandemic-hit 20202-21 to average Rs 1.51 lakh crore in 2022-23.
