GST collection in April is highest ever, at Rs 1.87 lakh crore

GST collection in April rose by 12 per cent annually to over Rs 1.87 lakh crore, touching an all-time monthly high, showed finance ministry data released on Monday.

The previous monthly high Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection was in April 2022 at about Rs 1.68 lakh crore.

Hailing the record GST collection, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet said, "Great news for the Indian economy! Rising tax collection despite lower tax rates shows the success of how GST has increased integration and compliance."

The gross GST revenue collected in the month of April 2023 is Rs 187,035 crore of which CGST is Rs 38,440 crore, SGST is Rs 47,412 crore, IGST is Rs 89,158 crore (including Rs 34,972 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 12,025 crore (including Rs 901 crore collected on import of goods), the finance ministry said in a statement.

The revenues for April 2023 are 12 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year.

During the month, 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, it said.

April 2023 saw the highest-ever tax collection on a single day on April 20.

A sum of Rs 68,228 crore was paid through 9.8 lakh transactions on that day.

The highest single-day payment last year (on the same date) was Rs 57,846 crore through 9.6 lakh transactions.

The ministry also said the number of e-way bills generated in March 2023 was 9 crore, which is 11 per cent higher than 8.1 crore e-way bills generated in February 2023.

During April, the government settled Rs 45,864 crore to CGST and Rs 37,959 crore to SGST from IGST.

The total revenue of the Centre and the States in April 2023 after regular settlement is Rs 84,304 crore for CGST and Rs 85,371 crore for the SGST.

Commenting on the GST numbers, Assocham president Ajay Singh said that the highest ever collection in April marks an excellent beginning of fiscal 2023-24.

"The GST numbers are indicative of robust growth of the Indian economy, on the back of a strong pick-up in consumer demand," he said.

Gautam Mahanti, business head, IRIS Tax Tech stated that the record-breaking GST collection is a clear indication of the positive impact of e-invoicing and strengthened compliance regulations, coupled with India's thriving economy.

"As anticipated, the 12 per cent growth from the previous year in April 2022 is attributed to the rise in e-way bills generated in March 2023, which witnessed a 16 per cent growth from the same period last year," he said.

Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA Limited said GST collections displayed a robust year-end uptick with a 12 per cent expansion in April 2023, representing the transactions in March 2023.

"While 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," she added.

Vivek Jalan, partner Tax Connect Advisory, a multi-disciplinary tax consultancy firm said the Budget 2023 has projected an uptick of 12 per cent in GST Collections in 2023-24 vis-a-vis last fiscal.

"If inflation is expected at 5.5 per cent and GDP Growth at 6 per cent, then the indirect tax buoyancy is budgeted is not even 1 per cent.

“The CBIC is expected to achieve more, which it has not in April 2023 wherein the growth in GST Collections is exactly 12 per cent,” he said.

The total gross collection for the 2022-23 fiscal stood at Rs 18.10 lakh crore, 22 per cent higher than the previous year.

GST came into force on July 1, 2017, subsuming a plethora of indirect taxes.