April GST collection at new high of Rs 1.87 lakh cr, up 12% from last year

April 2023 has set several records for tax collection, finance ministry data released on Monday (May 1) shows. Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in April was over Rs 1.87 lakh crore, rising by 12% annually and touching an all-time monthly high as well. April 20 also recorded the highest-ever tax collected on a single day.

The previous monthly high for GST collection was about Rs 1.68 lakh crore, in April 2022.

Great news for the Indian economy! Rising tax collection despite lower tax rates shows the success of how GST has increased integration and compliance. https://t.co/xf1nfN9hrG

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 1, 2023

Hailing the record GST collection, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Great news for the Indian economy! Rising tax collection despite lower tax rates shows the success of how GST has increased integration and compliance.”

The gross GST revenue collected in April 2023 is Rs 1,87,035 crore, of which CGST is Rs 38,440 crore, SGST is Rs 47,412 crore, IGST is Rs 89,158 crore (including Rs 34,972 crore collected on import of goods), and cess is Rs 12,025 crore (including Rs 901 crore collected on import of goods), the finance ministry said in a statement.

The revenues for April 2023 are 12% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year.

During the month, the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) were 16% higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year, it said.

Also read: Different online games may attract different slabs of GST: Government

April 2023 also recorded the highest-ever tax collection on a single day. A sum of Rs 68,228 crore was paid through 9.8 lakh transactions on April 20. The highest single-day payment last year on the same date was Rs 57,846 crore through 9.6 lakh transactions.

Impact of e-invoicing

The ministry also said the number of e-way bills generated in March 2023 was 9 crore, which is 11% higher than 8.1 crore e-way bills generated in February 2023.

During April, the government settled Rs 45,864 crore to CGST and Rs 37,959 crore to SGST from IGST.

The total revenue of the Centre and the states in April 2023 after regular settlement is Rs 84,304 crore for CGST and Rs 85,371 crore for SGST.

Commenting on the GST numbers, Assocham President Ajay Singh said the highest ever collection in April marks an excellent beginning of fiscal 2023-24.

“The GST numbers are indicative of robust growth of the Indian economy, on the back of a strong pick-up in consumer demand,” he said.

Also read: March GST mop-up at Rs 1.60 lakh cr, 2nd highest ever; FY23 collection up 22%

Gautam Mahanti, Business Head, IRIS Tax Tech, stated that the record-breaking GST collection is a clear indication of the positive impact of e-invoicing and strengthened compliance regulations, coupled with India’s thriving economy.

“As anticipated, the 12% growth from the previous year in April 2022 is attributed to the rise in e-way bills generated in March 2023, which witnessed a 16% growth from the same period last year,” he said.

Robust year-end uptick

Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRA Ltd, said GST collections displayed a robust year-end uptick with a 12% expansion in April 2023, representing the transactions in March 2023.

“While collections have maintained a healthy 11–13% growth in recent months, a normalising base and some cooling of inflation may moderate the pace of expansion slightly in the coming quarter, although it would remain in the high single digits,” she added.

Vivek Jalan, Partner Tax Connect Advisory, a multi-disciplinary tax consultancy firm, said Budget 2023 has projected an uptick of 12% in GST Collections in 2023-24 vis-a-vis last fiscal.

“If inflation is expected at 5.5% and GDP Growth at 6%, the indirect tax buoyancy is budgeted is not even 1%. The CBIC is expected to achieve more, which it has not in April 2023 wherein the growth in GST Collections is exactly 12%, he said.

Also read: Revocation of GST registration cancellation: Businesses can apply by June 30

The total gross collection for the 2022-23 fiscal stood at Rs 18.10 lakh crore, 22% higher than the previous year.

GST came into force on July 1, 2017, subsuming a plethora of indirect taxes.

(With agency inputs)