GST revenues grew 13% in March 2023, to record the second highest monthly collections of ₹1.6 lakh crore.
| Photo Credit: AFP
India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues grew 13% in March, to record the second highest monthly collections of ₹1.6 lakh crore from the indirect tax, with receipts from goods imports rising 8% and inflows from domestic transactions and services imports rising 14% from a year ago.
Gross GST collections for 2022-23 are 22% higher than in 2021-22 at ₹18.1 lakh crore, reflecting an average gross monthly collection of almost ₹1.51 lakh crore.
The growth in GST collections in March was the fastest so far in 2023, marking the 12th month in a row that inflows were over ₹1.4 lakh crore and the fourth month in 2022-23 over the ₹1.5 lakh crore mark. March’s collections were only eclipsed previously in April 2022, when collections were ₹1,67,540 crore.
Rising compliance
Integrated GST collections hit a record high of ₹82,907 crore in March 2023, including ₹42,503 crore collected on the import of goods. Indicating an uptick in compliance levels, returns filed by taxpayers during March has been the highest ever, the Finance Ministry said.
“93.2% of statement of invoices (in GSTR-1) and 91.4% of returns (in GSTR-3B) of February were filed till March 2023 as compared to 83.1% and 84.7% respectively, same month last year,” it emphasised.
The higher compliance trends under the GST regime could also help enhance the direct tax revenues to an extent, noted Vivek Jalan, partner at consultancy firm Tax Connect Advisory. “Businesses are gradually realising that compliance is the simplest way forward in the GST system,” he said.
State-wise growth
The GST collections in March largely reflect transactions undertaken in the month of February. The revenue share between the Centre and the States during the month, after settling IGST collections, is ₹62,954 crore for the Central GST and ₹65,501 crore for the State GST, the Ministry said.
As many as 16 States and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir reported higher growth from domestic transactions during March than the national average of 14.4%, including Bihar and J&K (both at 29.4%), Karnataka (18.4%), Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Tamil Nadu (all around 15%).
Among the other States, the lowest growth rate was recorded in Himachal Pradesh (8.1%) and Gujarat (8.3%). Revenues from Andhra Pradesh were up 11.3%, with Maharashtra (11.8%), Kerala (12.7%) and Telangana (13.25%) and West Bengal (13.9%) recording higher growth.
Tribunals will help
With the GST Appellate Tribunal likely to be set up this year, tax experts believe this could further stabilise the regime.
“While GST collections have been consistently buoyant, which is reflective of a vibrant economy, taxpayers do face challenges at times, specifically in areas related to input tax reconciliations in the absence of an appellate tribunal,” said Saloni Roy, partner at Deloitte India.
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