GST collections in January 2023 indicate an increase in economic activity and greater tax compliance.
GST Collections In January 2023: It is the third time in the current fiscal year that GST collection has crossed the Rs 1.50 lakh crore mark
The gross GST collection in January 2023 was Rs 1.56 lakh crore, according to an official statement released on Tuesday. This is the second-highest cleanup ever after the collection reported in April 2022, signaling an uptick in economic activity and greater tax compliance.
“The gross GST revenue collected in the month of January 2023 till 5pm on 31.01.2023 is Rs 1,55,922 crore of which CGST is Rs 28,963 crore, SGST is Rs 36,730 crore, IGST is Rs 79,599 crore (including Rs 37,118 crore collected from importation of goods) and cess is Rs 10,630 crore (including Rs 768 crore collected on importation of goods),” the finance ministry said in a statement.
It added that this is the third time, in the current financial year, that the GST collection has crossed the Rs 1.50 lakh crore mark.
The government has paid Rs 38,507 crore to CGST and Rs 32,624 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. As of January 2023, the total revenue of the Center and States after regular settlement is Rs 67,470 crore for CGST and Rs 69,354 crore for the SGST.
Abhishek Jain, partner (indirect tax) at KPMG in India, said: “GST collections for the month of January have reached a second-ever high, providing the perfect momentum for the budget. Equally encouraging, December saw the highest number of e -way bills were generated, clearly indicating a pick-up in economic activity.”
He added that with the 2022-23 Economic Survey indicating that the number of taxpayers has almost doubled from the original 2017 figures, it appears that such high GST collections will be normal in the coming months.
“Final fiscal year to January 2023 revenue is now 24 percent higher than GST revenue for the same period last year. Revenues from imports of goods for this period are 29% higher and from domestic transactions (including imports of services) are 22% higher than revenues from these sources for the same period last year,” the ministry said.
In the month of December 2022, 8.3 crore e-way bills were generated which is the highest so far and it was significantly higher than the 7.9 crore e-way bills generated in November 2022.
Over the past year, various efforts have been made to increase the tax base and improve compliance. The percentage of submissions of GST returns (GSTR-3B) and account statements (GSTR-1) to the end of the month has improved significantly over the years. The trend in declarations in the Oct-Dec quarter over the past few years is as shown in the graph below.
In the October-December 2022 quarter, a total of 2.42 crore GST returns were filed till the end of next month, compared to 2.19 crore in the same quarter last year.
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