Informist, Monday, Jul 1, 2024

--Govt source: India Jun total GST mop-up 1.74 trln rupees

--Govt source: India Jun total GST mop-up 1.74 trln rupees, up 8.1%

By Priyasmita Dutta

NEW DELHI – India's goods and services tax collections grew 8.1% on year to 1.74 trln rupees in June, a government official said. Departing from the usual practice, the government has discontinued officially releasing GST data every month, the official said. Though the GST collections in June are the fourth highest in absolute terms, the growth of 8.1% is the lowest since June 2021, when the Indian economy was struggling under the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The slowdown in growth in GST collections is a bit surprising given that e-way bill generation in May pointed to buoyant growth. The number of e-way bills generated jumped 17.0% year-on-year to 103.16 mln in May, according to data from the Goods and Services Tax Network. The number of e-way bills generated in May was the second-highest ever, a touch below March's all-time high of 103.55 mln.

An e-way bill is a GST document for transport of goods worth more than 50,000 rupees within or outside a state. As such, the number of e-way bills generated is taken as a lead indicator of economic activity and domestic trade. In May, the GST mop-up was 1.73 trln rupees.

The official did not detail the GST collections by the Centre and states separately or for the compensation cess. However, the official said from the integrated GST collections, the government settled 396 bln rupees for the Central GST and 335 bln rupees for the state GST in June.

The discontinuation of releasing GST collection data comes at a time when the government has received flak from some quarters for "celebrating" how much it collects as tax from the citizens, another official told Informist. GST is a consumption driven tax which impacts every segment of society, the official said.

Till now, the government detailed the monthly GST data on the first of the subsequent month. The discontinuation of official GST data release from today onwards also coincides with the GST Day. The government rolled out the GST on Jul 1, 2017. Unlike the past, there was no press conference this time for the GST Day, probably because senior officials of the finance ministry are busy with the budget-making exercises and the finance ministry is under quarantine.

"With reduced tax rates on household goods after GST implementation, #7yearsofGST has brought happiness and relief to every home through lower GST on household appliances and mobile phones," the finance ministry said in a post on micro-blogging site X, formerly Twitter, today.

In April, when the GST collections were 2.10 trln rupees, the finance ministry said the GST collections breached the "landmark milestone of 2 trln rupees". This kind of celebration seems to have backfired on the government, the official said.

The Interim Budget has projected the Centre's share in GST collections to rise 11.6% in 2024-25. The total GST collections, excluding cess, are roughly divided equally between the Centre and the states. End

Edited by Saji George Titus

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