The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in May (for April) came in at just over `1 lakh crore, clocking a growth of about 7% compared with the mop-up in the corresponding month last fiscal. However, it is about 14% lower than `1.14 lakh crore revenue collected in April this year.
As per the budget estimate for the current fiscal, the average monthly GST collection is pegged at `1.14 lakh crore. The average of the first two months of the fiscal is below the required rate, though the collection has breached the `1-lakh crore mark for three consecutive months for the first time since GST was implemented.
The early pattern of revenue collection this fiscal is similar to last year when the average monthly collection of `98,000 crore fell well short of the required rate, `1.12 lakh crore. This had prompted the government to lower the revised estimate by `1 lakh crore.
Despite this, the Centre’s collection fell short by about `60,000 crore.
Further, the government said the total revenue earned by the central and state governments after regular settlement of integrated GST stood at Rs 35,909 crore and Rs 38,900 crore respectively.
Further, Rs 18,934 crore has been released to the states as GST compensation for the months of February-March, 2019, the government said. It added that the total number of GSTR 3B returns filed for the month of April up to May 31 stood at 72.45 lakh.
