The gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in January came in at Rs 1.72 trillion, the second highest monthly mop-up ever since the inception of the regime in July FY17, the finance ministry said on Wednesday. The January mop-up, largely pertaining to December transactions, is up 10.4% on year, but could be revised upwards, sources said.
January marks the third month in the current financial year, the gross collections crossed the Rs 1.70-trillion-mark. The highest GST collection of Rs 1.87 trillion was recorded in April, 2023.
Separate data released by the finance ministry on Wednesday showed the Centre’s gross tax revenue (GTR), or the collections before the transfers to states, in April-December of the current financial year came in at Rs 24.8 trillion, 74% of the Budget estimate of Rs 33.6 trillion. The GTR was up 14.3% on year, higher than 10% projected in the Budget, indicating that annual receipts may comfortably surpass the Budget Estimates.
During April-December FY23, the collections stood at Rs 21.7 trillion, representing 71% of the actuals of the last fiscal year. Corporate tax (CIT) mop-up during April-December came in at Rs 7.2 trillion, up 18.7% on year, and personal income tax (PIT) at Rs 6.9 trillion, 28.4% higher on year. The Budget has projected the growth of both CIT and PIT at 11.7% and 11.4%, respectively.
Customs duty collections during the period, however, contracted 0.2% at Rs 1.6 trillion, and excise duty mop-up shrank by 7% to Rs 2 trillion. The Budget pegged their respective growth rates at 6.3% and 9.2%.
According to the GST department, during January, the government settled Rs 43,552 crore to Central GST (CGST) and Rs 37,257 crore to State GST (State GST) from the Integrated GST (IGST) collection. During April-January, the cumulative gross GST collection came in at Rs 16.69 trillion, up 11.6% on year. The annual growth slowed slightly to 10.4% in December-January.
“The January collections relate to supply transactions of goods and services during December 23 where there was considerable emphasis on completing audits and investigations relating to earlier years,” said MS Mani, partner, Deloitte India. Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner, EY, said: “this consistent upward trend, evident in surpassing key milestones, reflects the effectiveness of improved tax administration and heightened taxpayer compliance.”