Enhanced GST mop-up now a 'new normal': Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi : Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said taxpayer base has almost doubled to 1.28 crore in four years of rollout of the historic tax reform and the enhanced GST mop up in the recent months should now be the 'new normal'.

In a written message to tax officers on the fourth anniversary of GST rollout, she said implementing any reform of this scale in a large and diverse country like India can be highly challenging, but GST has brought about ease in taxpayer compliance and reduced common man's tax burden.

For eight months in a row, Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues have crossed Rs 1 lakh crore mark and touched a record Rs 1.41 lakh crore in April 2021. "Commendable work has been done in the year gone by both in the area of facilitation and enforcement with numerous cases of fraudulent dealers and ITC being registered.

The enhanced revenue collection in recent months should now be the 'new normal'," Sitharaman said. In the last four years, the GST taxpayer base has almost doubled to 1.28 crore from 66.25 lakh.

Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur, in his message on GST Day, said in the past year a balance has been struck between trade facilitation and enforcement.