Gross goods and services tax (GST) collection for December rang up over Rs 1.49 trillion, the data released by the finance ministry showed.
This is a surge of 15 per cent year-on-year, mainly driven by increase in retail prices of consumption items, high inflation, and action taken to ensure compliance.
This was the third-highest monthly collection since the tax was introduced in July 2017.
GST collection touched a record high of Rs 1.68 trillion in April and touched over Rs 1.51 trillion in October.
“This is the tenth month in a row — that monthly GST revenue has been more than Rs 1.4 trillion,” the ministry said while releasing the data.
If the trend continues, overall GST collection may exceed the budgetary estimate by Rs 1.3-1.4 trillion, experts estimate.
The Budget 2022 set the Central GST (CGST) target at Rs 6.6 trillion, excluding the compensation cess. Between April and December, CGST collection stood at more than Rs 5.5 trillion.
“The headline GST numbers remain robust. Revenue from domestic transactions may continue to report higher growth than that from imports, given the moderation in commodity prices,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA.
During the month, revenues from imports of goods were 8 per cent higher and those from domestic transactions (including imports of services) were 18 per cent higher than those from these sources during the same month last year, the ministry said.
In November 2022, 79 million e-way bills were generated as against 76 million in October.
The latest GST numbers pertain to the transactions made in November.
“An 18 per cent increase in GST revenues from domestic transactions, viewed with the expansion in e-way bill issuance and the significant increase in GST collection by key manufacturer and consuming states, would indicate a sustained manufacturing and consumption cycle across recent months,” said M S Mani, partner, Deloitte India.
Of the mop-up in December, central CGST was Rs 26,711 crore, State GST Rs 33,357 crore, integrated GST Rs 78,434 crore (including Rs 40,263 crore collected on imports of goods), and cess Rs 11,005 crore (including Rs 850 crore collected on imports of goods), the data showed.
The government has settled Rs 36,669 crore to CGST and Rs 31,094 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement.
After regular settlements, the revenues of the Centre and the states stood at Rs 63,380 crore as CGST and Rs 64,451 crore as SGST.
“The steady increase in GST collection over recent months, while being reflective of manufacturing and consumption stability across states, would also tie in with key macro economic indicators, which have been pointing to a good economic performance across key sectors,” Mani added.
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