India's Goods and Services Tax collections jumped by 10.3% to Rs 1.82 lakh crore in July, according to data released on Thursday. This is an addition of a substantial Rs 8,000 crore compared to the Rs 1.74 lakh crore mobilized in the previous month.
The gross GST collections have been Rs 7.39 lakh crore for the first four months of the current fiscal—up 10.2 per cent over the comparative period last year. In July, domestic GST collections were up 8.9 per cent, while revenues from imports rose 14.2 per cent, quite substantially.
However, refunds during this period were 19 per cent lower compared to the year-ago period, as authorities have intensified their review of refund claims. Of the total refunds of Rs 16,283 crore, Rs 11,566 crore was for Integrated Goods and Services Tax.
Net domestic revenues were at Rs 1.66 lakh crore, which is 14.4% higher than the Rs 1.45 lakh crore clocked in the corresponding month of the previous year. The consistent growth in GST collection indicates robust economic growth and improved compliance of taxation laws. Collections had touched a record high of Rs 2.1 lakh crore in April.
The finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, in the Union Budget for 2024-25, pegged the GST collection growth target for the current fiscal year at 11%. She underlined that the GST system was the most transformational legacy-independent tax reform on account of its huge success.
Last month marked the completion of seven years of implementation of GST. The number of GST taxpayers increased to 1.46 crore in April 2024 from 1.05 crore in April 2018. Further, compliance burden for smaller taxpayers has been considerably lightened—GST Council has recommended dispensing with the requirement of filing an annual return in the case of those having aggregate annual turnover up to Rs 2 crore for the 2023-24 fiscal year onwards.
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