Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections rose 44 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,40,885 crore in May (for sales in April), reflecting improved economic activity, enforcement actions and higher inflationdata released by the Finance Ministry showed.
The GST collections had recorded the highest-ever level of Rs 1.68 lakh crore in the previous month for year-end sales in March. This is the fourth time the monthly GST collections have crossed Rs 1.40 lakh crore mark since inception of GST and third month in a row since March 2022. GST collections in May 2021 had stood at Rs 97,821 crore. “The collection in the month of May, which pertains to the returns for April, the first month of the financial year, has always been less than that in April, which pertains to the returns for March, the closing of the financial year. However, it is encouraging to see that even in the month of May 2022, the gross GST revenues have crossed the Rs 1.40 lakh crore mark,” the Ministry statement said.
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Total number of e-way bills generated in April 2022 were at 7.4 crore, 4 per cent less than 7.7 crore e-way bills generated in March 2022, it said.
Revenues from import of goods were 43 per cent higher and the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) were 44 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.
Experts said actions against tax evaders including efforts in audits and analytics helped push the growth in GST collections.
MS Mani, partner, Deloitte India said, “The stability demonstrated by GST collections exceeding Rs 1.4 lakh crore over the past three months is a good indicator of the growth of the economy and ties in with the other macro economic indicators including the GDP numbers. Significant efforts in audits and analytics have also led to a drive against tax evaders, inculcating a tax compliance culture. The reduction in collections compared with the previous months was expected as the collections for March , being the last month of the fiscal year, have always been more than other months of the year.”
ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar said the high year-on-year growth reflects the low base of the second wave. “Nonetheless, the May 2022 GST collections are robust compared to the Q4 FY2022 trends, benefiting from improved compliance, market share gains by the organised sector as well as the transmission of higher commodity prices into output prices. Given the trends for Apr-May 2022, and the anticipation of a sustained healthy momentum of activity in absence of another wave of Covid and major disruptions, we expect the CGST inflows in FY23 to exceed the BE level by Rs 1.15 trillion, helping absorb a part of the higher subsidy bill,” she said.