GST collections hit Rs 1.52 L cr in Oct, second highest ever

NEW DELHI: GST revenues registered the second highest collection ever at Rs 1.52 lakh crore in October, reflecting pick up in economic activity in the festive season.

The collections in October this year recorded a 16.6 per cent rise over Rs 1.30 lakh crore collected in the same month last year. Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection had touched a record high of nearly Rs 1.68 lakh crore in April. In September, it was Rs 1.48 lakh crore.

“The gross GST collected in the month of October 2022 is Rs 1,51,718 crore, of which central GST is Rs 26,039 crore, state GST is Rs 33,396 crore, integrated GST is Rs 81,778 crore (including Rs 37,297 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 10,505 crore (including Rs 825 crore collected on import of goods), which is second highest till date,” an official statement said. The total revenue of the Centre and the states after regular as well as adhoc settlements in the month of October 2022 is Rs 74,665 crore for CGST and Rs 77,279 crore for the SGST.

GST mop-up has been over Rs 1.40 lakh crore for eight months in a row, while for two months it has crossed the Rs 1.50 lakh crore-mark. During the month of September 2022, 8.3 crore e-way bills were generated, which was significantly higher than 7.7 crore e-way bills generated in August 2022. ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar said the sharp sequential pickup in the headline GST collections in October 2022 reflects a combination of quarter-end flows relating to the transactions in the previous month, as well as the surge in GST e-way bills ahead of a robust festive season.

“With the festive season in October 2022, the generation of GST e-way bills is expected to have remained high, which should bolster the GST collections in the month of November 2022,” Nayar said.

ICRA expects the CGST collections to exceed the FY23 Budget Estimates by Rs 1.3-1.4 lakh crore.

NA Shah Associates Partner Indirect Tax Parag Mehta said October was also a month of festivals and holidays wherein people have splurged on real estate, vehicles, holidays and other necessities. “It now looks that GST collections will surely cross Rs 1.50 lakh crore on monthly basis from November 2022,” Mehta said.

Deloitte India Partner MS Mani said major states have reported impressive increase in collections indicating that it is a broad based phenomenon across the country. EY LLP Tax Partner Saurabh Agarwal said that with both the revenue wings - CBDT and CBIC - charged up with increasing the tax collection, healthy collection can be expected in the coming months too.

“The self-sustained economy seems to be trending with further decline in the tax collection on imports due to various fiscal policies of the Indian government,” Agarwal said.

KPMG in India Partner Indirect Tax Abhishek Jain said with the festive season continuing, GST collections are further expected to go up. This coupled with revamped focus of the government on tax collections can lead to further increase in collections in the coming months, he said.