Finance Ministry on Wednesday reported collection from Goods & Services Tax (GST) over ₹ 1.40 lakh crore in May. This collection is related with transactions that took place in April which has traditionally been a lower activity month.

Collection in May is 43 per cent higher than last May collection of around ₹98,000 crore, but around 16 per cent lower than April collection of ₹1.68 lakh crore. Still, this is only the fourth time that the the monthly GST collection crossed ₹1.40 lakh crore mark since its inception and the third month at a stretch since March. Experts say better compliance coupled with recovery in the economy are the reasons for better collection.

“During the month, revenue from import of goods was 43 per cent higher and revenue from domestic transactions (including import of services) was 44 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year,” a statement issued by the Finance Ministry said.

Further, it said that the collection in May, which pertains to the returns for April, the first month of the financial year, has always been lesser than that in April. However, it is encouraging to see that even in May 2022, the gross GST revenues have crossed the ₹1.40 lakh crore mark.

E-way bills

Total number of e-way bills generated in April 2022 was 7.4 crore, which is 4 per cent lesser than 7.7 crore e-way bills generated in March 2022.

MS Mani, Partner with Deloitte India said that the stability demonstrated by GST collection exceeding ₹ 1.4 lakh crore over the past three months is a good indicator of the economic growth and ties in with the other 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,” he said.

GST audit and compliances

Vivek Jalan, Partner with Tax Connect Advisory said that collection in first two months has already surpassed the budgeted monthly GST collection. These are early days, but it seems that the stage is set for the Government for achieving its ambitious ₹1.5 lakh crore target.

“GST collection would further rise due to activites of GST scrutinies, summons, investigations, searches and seizures on the basis of data provided by the DGARM, which is the Data Analytics wing of the GST Council. On April 1, 2022, 35,000 taxpayers’ Scrutiny Assessments were sent to field formations for initiation. This will be followed up by GST Audits and these will ensure that collections are further enhanced,” he said.

Further, he said that robust compliances is the way ahead under GST. “The requirement of current business is that it has to concurrently keep its GST and Income Tax Books sanitized and be ‘Scrutiny Ready’ at all times,” he said.

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