GST collection at Rs 1.41 lakh crore in May, rises 44% year-on-year

GST revenues bucked the two-month rising trend in May and stood at nearly Rs 1.41 lakh crore, registering a year-on-year increase of 44 per cent.

Although the May Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues came in lower than the record high collection in April at Rs 1.68 lakh crore and Rs 1.42 lakh crore in March, it is still the fourth-highest collection since the rollout of the new indirect tax regime on July 1, 2017.

In February, revenues from taxing sale of goods and services was at Rs 1.33 lakh crore, while in January it was Rs 1,40,986 crore.

"The gross GST revenue collected in the month of May 2022 is Rs 1,40,885 crore of which CGST is Rs 25,036 crore, SGST is Rs 32,001 crore, IGST is Rs 73,345 crore (including Rs 37,469 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 10,502 crore (including Rs 931 crore collected on import of goods)," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

1,40,885 crore gross GST Revenue collection for May 2022; increase of 44% year-on-year GST collection crosses 1.40 lakh crore mark 4th time since inception of GST; 3rd month at a stretch since March 2022

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— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) June 1, 2022

The revenues for the month of May 2022 are 44 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year at Rs 97,821 crore.

This is the fourth time that the monthly GST collection has crossed the Rs 1.40 lakh crore mark since the inception of GST and the third straight month since March 2022.

"The collection in 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 said.

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The total number of e-way bills generated in the month of April 2022 was 7.4 crore, which is 4 per cent less than 7.7 crore e-way bills generated in the month of March 2022.

Deloitte India Partner M S Mani 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 macroeconomic 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," Mani said.

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, benefitting from improved compliance, market share gains by the organised sector as well as the transmission of higher commodity prices into output prices," Nayar said.

Given the trends for April-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 FY 2023 to exceed the Budget Estimates level by Rs 1.15 trillion, helping to absorb a part of the higher subsidy bill.

Tax Connect Advisory Partner Vivek Jalan said these are early days, but it seems that the stage is set for the government for achieving its ambitious Rs 1.5 trillion a month GST collection target. 

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