Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collection jumped
by 13 per cent YoY to ₹1.72 lakh crore in October this year. This is the second
highest-ever GST revenue collection ever, according to the Finance Ministry.
Notably, this is the second highest gross GST revenue
collection next to April month of this financial year.
Out of the total gross GST, ₹30,062 crore is CGST,
₹38,171 crore is SGST, ₹91,315 crore is IGST and ₹12,456 crore is cess. The
total revenue of Centre and the States in October stood at ₹72,934 crore for
CGST and ₹74,785 crore for SGST.
GST collections are a notable economic indicator of
the underlying health of the Indian economy. The strong GST collections accentuate
the underlying resilience of the Indian economy amidst the ongoing geopolitical
and global recession fears. The indirect tax reform of Goods and Services Tax
was implemented in July 2017.
KPMG Indirect Tax Head & Partner Abhishek Jain
attributed to “settlement of disputes for FY 17-18” as the reason behind this
significantly increased collection as the normal period of limitation was
ending on September 30.
“A mid-year collection of such an increased number is
definitely worth a cheer and the ongoing festivities driven consumption could
help this continue,” said Jain.
“The growing emphasis on audits led by specific
information available on various databases, not only on the GST portal, has led
to a significant increase in compliance across sectors and States. This is also
reflected in the upsurge in the GST collections across key manufacturing and
consuming states,” stated Deloitte India Partner MS Mani.
“The collections in next month are likely to go up due
to the festive season. Data analytics, artificial intelligence, stricter norms
combined with GST authorities in action across India is working well towards
the increased collection. With the stable collection, the government can now
consider rate rationalisation as the next task,” commented EY Tax Partner Saurabh
Agarwal.
NE Watch Desk
