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The collection from goods and services dropped to around ₹1.03-lakh crore in May against an all-time high of over ₹1.41-lakh crore in April.
This is the eighth successive month of ₹1-lakh crore-plus collection. However, the Finance Ministry said the collection data is from domestic transactions till June 4 as taxpayers were given relief in the form of waiver/reduction in interest on delayed filing for 15 days for returns pertaining to May in the wake of Covid second wave.
While taxpayers with turnover above ₹5 crore had to file their returns by June 4, which they would have otherwise filed by May 20, those with turnover less than ₹5 crore have time till the first week of July to file the returns without any late fee or interest, and the revenue from these taxpayers is deferred till then.
GST mop-up hits record ₹1.41-lakh crore in April
Higher revenues
“The actual revenues for May 2021 would, thus, be higher and known when the extended dates expire,” the Ministry said.
Still, the revenues for May are 65 per cent higher than the collection in the same month last year.
During the month, revenues from imports of goods were 56 per cent higher than that from domestic transactions (including import of services) 69 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the corresponding month of last fiscal. MS Mani, Senior Director with Deloitte India, said collections above ₹1-lakh crore pertaining to April transactions indicate that the economic impact of the lockdowns has been much lower than expected. “A close watch is required in the coming months to determine the extent of the impact on GST collections for FY22,” he said.
According to Rajat Bose, Partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, though most of the businesses were not functioning in April due to the lockdown, the numbers come as a pleasant surprise.
“The numbers should rise further, considering that many small businesses are yet to file their returns due to Covid-related relaxations extended by the government,” he said.
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