2.5.22

GST Collections in April Touch All time High


Goods and services tax collections hit an all-time high of ₹1.68 lakh crore in April, indicating strong economic activity despite multiple headwinds and better tax compliance. The April number is up 20% from the year earlier and ₹25,000 crore more than the previous highest of ₹1.42 lakh crore in March this year.

“Total number of e-waybills generated in the month of March 2022 was 7.7 crore, which is 13% higher than 6.8 crore e-way bills generated in the month of February 2022, which reflects recovery of business activity at faster pace,” a finance ministry statement said on Sunday.

The ministry also attributed the jump in the returns filed to “strict enforcement action taken against errant taxpayers identified based on data analytics and artificial intelligence. ” In April 2022, 10.6 million GST returns were filed compared with 9.2 million in the year earlier.

The government expects the average monthly collection to be higher than ₹1.40 lakh crore for the first quarter of this fiscal.

The highest-ever GST collection in a single day took place on April 20 —₹57,847 crore through 958,000
transactions. For the March quarter, the average monthly GST collection stood at ₹1.38 lakh crore.
“Sincerely recognise and appreciate the efforts made by each and every state in improving GST revenue
collection. India’s economic recovery is sure to be on a sustained path due to all our efforts,” finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted.

“Clear proof that Indian economy is firing on all cylinders!” said Hardeep Singh Puri, minister of petroleum and natural gas.

Apart from the usual rise in collections in April, the rule that input tax credit will be available only upon timely compliance by the vendors also boosted returns, experts said.

“The impact of the continuing focus on ensuring timely compliance by all GST registrants by restricting the input tax credits of the buyers together with enhanced analytics to detect evasion has also contributed
significantly to the all-time high collections reported,” said Deloitte India partner MS Mani.

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