GST collections rise to 2nd highest-ever in Jan

Goods and Services Tax collections jumped 10.4 per cent to over Rs 1.72 lakh crore in January, reflecting buoyant economic activity and setting the stage for the next phase of GST reforms.

This is the second-highest monthly collection ever and marks the third month in this financial year with a collection of Rs 1.70 lakh crore or more, a finance ministry statement said on Wednesday.

"The gross GST revenue collected in the month of January 2024 (till 05:00 PM of 31.01.2024) is Rs 1,72,129 crore, which shows a 10.4 per cent y-o-y growth over the revenue of Rs 1,55,922 crore collected in January 2023 (till 05:00 PM on 31.01.2023)," the ministry said.

During the April 2023-January 2024 period, cumulative gross GST collection witnessed 11.6 per cent year-on-year growth (till 05:00 PM of 31.01.2024), reaching Rs 16.69 lakh crore against Rs 14.96 lakh crore collected in the same period of the previous year (April 2022-January 2023).

The highest-ever monthly GST collection was recorded in April 2023 at Rs 1.87 lakh crore.

NA Shah Associates Partner Indirect Tax Parag Mehta said a major reason was increasing awareness within the trade, final orders of pending show cause notices for 2017-18, which were passed on December 31, and the utmost use of data analytics by authorities to curb evasion.

Deloitte India Partner MS Mani said the second-highest ever GST collections would provide even more headroom for embarking upon the next stage of GST reforms.

"The GST collections are in line with the other macroeconomic parameters, which indicate a significant uplift in economic activities, with even the IMF upgrading the growth forecast to 6.7 per cent for FY23-24.

"The same collection trajectory in the next two months will ensure that the tax collection targets for the year are comfortably surpassed," Mani said.

Abhishek Jain, partner & national head, indirect tax, KPMG, said one significant reason for this growth could be linked to voluntary payments by businesses for FY 22-23 during finalisation of annual returns and reconciliation statements in December.

Tax Connect Advisory Partner Vivek Jalan said GST collections have been consistently rising and have almost doubled from an average of around 0.85 lakh crore in FY17-18 to around Rs 16.5 lakh crore in FY2023-25.

"As the taxpayers base has also doubled and keeps increasing by the day, these are clear indications that the biggest tax reform in Indian history has stabilised to a large extent," Jalan added.