The growth in the government’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections slightly slowed in December, despite the mop-up largely belonging to transactions made in November, the month which saw several festivals including Diwali. Gross GST mop-up came in at
Rs 1.65 trillion in December, up 10.3% on year, as per data released by the finance ministry on Monday.However, the annual growth in monthly collections was lower than 15.2% reported in November and average of 11.7% so far in FY24.
With the December mop-up, the GST collections in the first nine-months of FY24 has averaged Rs 1.66 trillion per month, representing a 12% increase from the corresponding period of last year.
Of the total collections – Central GST (CGST) mop-up stood at Rs 33,652 crore, State GST (SGST) at Rs 37,935 crore, Integrated GST (IGST) at Rs 84,255 crore, and collections from cess at Rs 12,249 crore, in December.
The Budget has projected CGST collections to rise 12.9% on year, but in April-December, its growth has been 16.4%, indicating CGST mop-up may surpass the BE (budget estimate) by a wide margin.
The government settled Rs 40,057 crore to CGST and Rs 33,652 crore to SGST from IGST collections in December. Post settlement, the CGST mop-up stood at Rs 70,501 crore and SGST at Rs 71,587 crore, in December.
“Increased GST collections over a 9 month period is an indicator of a stable Indian economy, better tax administration and increased consumption,” said Saurabh Agarwal, Tax Partner, EY.
Pratik Jain, Partner Price Waterhouse & Co LLP, said: “The collection in January is expected to be even higher, partly attributable to increase in GST audits and notices in the last few months to meet the statutory timelines.”