GST collections up 44% at `1.41L cr in May

New Delhi: GST collections bucked the two-month rising trend in May and stood at nearly Rs 1.41 lakh crore, registering a year-on-year increase of 44 per cent. Although the May Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues came in lower than the record high collection in April at Rs 1.68 lakh crore and Rs 1.42 lakh crore in March, it is still the fourth highest collection since the rollout of the new indirect tax regime on July 1, 2017.

In February, revenues from taxing sale of goods and services was at Rs 1.33 lakh crore, while in January it was Rs 1,40,986 crore. "The gross GST revenue collected in the month of May 2022 is Rs 1,40,885 crore of which CGST is Rs 25,036 crore, SGST is Rs 32,001 crore, IGST is Rs 73,345 crore (including Rs 37,469 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 10,502 crore (including Rs 931 crore collected on import of goods)," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The revenues for the month of May 2022 are 44 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year at Rs 97,821 crore. This is the fourth time that the monthly GST collection has crossed the Rs 1.40-lakh-crore mark since the inception of GST and the third straight month since March 2022. The collection in May, which pertains to the returns for April - the first month of the financial year - has always been less than that in April, which pertains to the returns for March, the closing of the financial year.

"However, it is encouraging to see that even in the month of May 2022, the gross GST revenues have crossed the Rs 1.40-lakh-crore mark," the ministry said. The total number of e-way bills generated in the month of April 2022 was 7.4 crore, which is 4 per cent less than 7.7 crore e-way bills generated in the month of March 2022.

Deloitte India Partner M S Mani said the stability demonstrated by GST collections exceeding Rs 1.40-lakh-crore over the past three months is a good indicator of the growth of the economy and ties in with the other macroeconomic indicators including the GDP numbers.

"Significant efforts in audits and analytics have also led to a drive against tax evaders, inculcating a tax compliance culture," Mani said. ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said the high year-on-year growth reflects the low base of the second wave.