GST mop-up. GST mop-up hits record ₹1.41-lakh crore in April

With economic recovery sustaining, Goods & Services Tax (GST) collections hit a record ₹1.41-lakh crore in April. This is seventh successive month of the mopu-up exceeding ₹1-lakh crore.

“In line with the trend of recovery in the GST revenues over past six months, the revenues for the month of April 2021 are 14 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the last month of March. During the month, the revenues from domestic transaction (including import of services) are 21 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the last month,” the statement said.

Experts remain cautious

However, experts say things may not be same from next month. MS Mani, Senior Director, Deloitte India, said that the all-time high collections which relates to supplies made in March could now give way to muted collections in the coming months due to the lower economic activities in April. “The continuing focus on improving compliance and the steps taken to curb evasion appears to be significantly improving the GST collections,” he said.

Rajat Bose, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, feels that the collections figures for April represent the tax collected towards transactions done in March 2021. Since its the year end, most companies close their books and raise invoices during the financial close. That is perhaps one of the reasons for the spurt in GST collections in April. “The real challenge lies ahead as most parts of the country are again in a lockdown and most industries are temporarily shut,” he said.

‘Businesses resilient’

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry said that despite the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic affecting several parts of the country, Indian businesses have once again shown remarkable resilience by not only complying with the return filing requirements but also paying their GST dues in a timely manner during the month.

Further it said that closer monitoring against fake-billing, deep data analytics using data from multiple sources including GST, Income-tax and Customs IT systems and effective tax administration have also contributed to the steady increase in tax revenue. Quarterly return and monthly payment scheme has been successfully implemented bringing relief to the small taxpayers as they now file only one return every three months. “Providing IT support to taxpayers in the form of pre-filled GSTR 2A and 3B returns and ramped up System capacity have also eased the return filing process,” the statement said.

During this month, the government has settled ₹29,185 crore to CGST and ₹22,756 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue of Centre and the States after regular and ad-hoc settlements in April is ₹57,022 crore for CGST and ₹58,377 crore for the SGST.

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