Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections touched ₹1.68 trillion in November as festive demand lifted sales, but the figure was lower than October’s receipts of ₹1.72 trillion.
Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections touched ₹1.68 trillion in November as festive demand lifted sales, but the figure was lower than October's receipts of ₹1.72 trillion.
The healthy tax revenue collection comes at a time GST-related audits for the initial years of the indirect tax reform are under way at a hectic pace.
Monthly GST collection, which saw a record ₹1.87 trillion in April, has remained robust subsequently, with collections in six out of the eight months up to November remaining above ₹1.6 trillion. Monthly average GST receipts is now at ₹1.66 trillion, a notch above policy makers' initial estimate of ₹1.65 trillion.
A finance ministry statement said that November GST revenue receipts showed a 15% improvement from the year-ago period, the fastest pace of growth the indirect tax has registered since its inception in 2017.
However, cumulative growth in the April to November period works out to 11.87%, which is closer to the nominal 10.5% economic growth rate projected for this year.
The GST remitted in November by businesses is for their sales in October. Experts explained that after businesses push out inventory ahead of the festive season, wholesale transactions would moderate a bit towards the end of the year. Bulk of the indirect tax collection happens at the wholesale level where margins are higher.
The ministry also said that revenue from domestic transactions and import of services rose 20% in November from a year ago.
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After settlement of taxes for inter-state sales, the Centre collected ₹68,297 crore and states collected ₹69,783 crore.
The healthy GST revenue in November was anticipated given that the generation of e-way bills needed for shipping goods within and across states had crossed the 100-million mark in October.
GST revenue receipts and e-way bills are taken as barometers for household consumption, the biggest growth driver for the economy, since these give an early indication of the trend.
Cooling consumer price inflation could help offset the impact of high interest rates in coming months in boosting consumption, while lowering input costs for businesses. In the September quarter of the current fiscal, household consumption has seen a 3% rise to ₹23.7 trillion, data released on Thursday by the statistics ministry showed.
Experts said that besides the festive demand, the emphasis on compliance, focussed recovery measures undertaken by the authorities, and the revamp of the tax regime for online gaming sector are also significant contributors to healthy GST revenue receipts.
"One expects that this buoyancy in tax collections will continue in the second half as well, with a large number of GST notices being issued to the assessees, and adjudication and recovery processes already underway," said Manish Mishra, partner and head of practice, indirect tax, at law firm JSA Advocates & Solicitors.