GST mop-up crosses Rs 1.5 trillion for third month in a row; up 12% in May

GST collections crossed Rs 1.50 trillion for the third month in a row, recording a 12 per cent increase in May at over Rs 1.57 trillion, according to the official data released on Thursday.

The collections, tax experts said, reflects a continuation of the good economic performance across states witnessed since last year.

The gross Good & Services Tax (GST) revenue collected in the month of May, 2023 is Rs 1,57,090 crore of which Central GST is Rs 28,411 crore, State GST is Rs 35,828 crore, Integrated GST is Rs 81,363 crore (including Rs 41,772 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 11,489 crore (including Rs 1,057 crore collected on import of goods), a finance ministry statement said.

"The revenues for the month of May 2023 are 12 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year," the ministry said.

During the month, revenue from import of goods was 12 per cent higher and the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) are 11 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

May is the third month in a row that tax collections from goods sold and services rendered have crossed Rs 1.50 trillion. In April GST revenues had touched a record high of Rs 1.87 trillion, while in March it was Rs 1.60 trillion.

May is the 14th month in a row when monthly GST revenues came in more than Rs 1.4 trillion. Collections have crossed the Rs 1.5 trillion-mark for the 5th time since the implementation of GST on July 1, 2017.

KPMG in India National Head (Indirect Taxes) Abhishek Jain said the GST collection matches with the government budget estimates for this fiscal.

"With extensive department GST audits lined up before September 2023, these figures may likely go up from here in the months to come," Jain added.

Deloitte India Partner M S Mani said these collections, while being lower than the previous year-end month, pertain to supply transactions undertaken in April.

"While the collections in absolute terms are lower than the previous month -- which had an embedded year-end impact -- it reflects a continuation of the inherently good economic performance across states witnessed since last year," Mani added.

ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said GST revenues in May 2023 have modestly exceeded expectations.

"Over the next few months, we expect GST revenues to print at Rs 1.55-1.65 trillion and record an expansion of 10-11 per cent in YoY terms, broadly in line with the nominal GDP growth expected in FY2024," Nayar said.

EY Tax Partner Saurabh Agarwal said GST collection figures for May 2023 further strengthen the belief in India's macroeconomic stability and continued growth momentum as we see a 12 per cent YoY growth.

"While the figures are comparatively moderate as compared to collections of April, however that's primarily on account of last fiscal year closure activities getting accumulated and accounted for in the collections of last month," Agarwal said.

Tax Connect Advisory Partner Vivek Jalan said the budget 2023 has projected an uptick of 12 per cent in GST collections in FY23-24 vis-a-vis last financial year.

Although GST from import of goods and services has shown a growth of 12 per cent this month vis-a-vis last month, the collection from domestic transactions has shown a growth of 11 per cent which is below the budget expectations, which maybe a point for the GST Council to ponder upon, Jalan added.