April's GST Collections Sets Record at Rs 1.41 Lakh Crore

The gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collected in April was at Rs 141,384 crore, touching the highest level since its introduction, the government said.

Of this, central GST was Rs 27,837 crore, state GST Rs 35,621 crore, Integrated GST Rs 68,481 crore crore (including Rs 29,599 crore collected on import of goods) and cess Rs 9,445 crore (including Rs 981 crore collected on import of goods).

Despite the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic affecting several parts of the country, Indian businesses have once again shown remarkable resilience by not only complying with the return filing requirements but also paying their GST dues in a timely manner during the month, said a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance.

In line with the trend of recovery in the GST revenues over past six months, the revenues for April 2021 are 14 per cent higher than the GST revenues in last month. Revenues from the domestic transactions (including import of services) are 21 per cent higher than in March.

GST revenues have not only crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark successively for last seven months but have also shown a steady increase. These are clear indicators of sustained economic recovery during this period, said the Ministry.

Closer monitoring against fake-billing, deep data analytics using data from multiple sources including GST, income-tax and customs IT systems and effective tax administration have also contributed to the steady increase in tax revenue.

Quarterly return and monthly payment scheme has been successfully implemented bringing relief to the small taxpayers as they now file only one return every three months. Providing IT support to taxpayers in the form of pre-filled GSTR 2A and 3B returns and ramped up system capacity have also eased the return filing process.

During April, the government has settled Rs 29,185 crore to CGST and Rs 22,756 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement.

The total revenue of Centre and states after regular and ad-hoc settlements in April is Rs 57,022 crore for CGST and Rs 58,377 crore for SGST.