GST collections rise to Rs 1.72 lakh crore in January, 2nd highest so for
/PTI
New Delhi, January 31
The gross GST revenue collected in the month of January was Rs 1.72 lakh crore, a 10.4 per cent year-on-year growth over the revenue of Rs 1.56 lakh crore collected in January 2023.
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. The government has settled Rs 43,552 crore to CGST and Rs 37,257 crore to SGST from the IGST collection.
During the April 2023-January 2024 period, cumulative gross GST collection witnessed 11.6 per cent year-over-year growth, reaching Rs 16.69 lakh crore, as against Rs 14.96 lakh crore collected in the same period of the previous year (April 2022-January 2023). The government did not release the state-wise collections this time.
Parag Mehta, partner, Indirect Tax, NA Shah Associates, 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.
MS Mani, Deloitte India partner, 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 and 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.
Vivek Jalan, Tax Connect Advisory partner, said GST collections had almost doubled from an average of around 0.85 lakh crore in FY17-18 to around Rs 16.5 lakh crore in FY2023-25.
