March sees second highest GST collection of ₹1.6 lakh crore

For the 12th month in a row, GST collections have been over ₹1.4 lakh crore, having grown by 13% in March 2023

India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues grew 13% in March, to record the second highest monthly collections of ₹1.6 lakh crore from the indirect tax, with receipts from goods imports rising 8% and inflows from domestic transactions and services imports rising 14% from a year ago.

Gross GST collections for 2022-23 are 22% higher than in 2021-22 at ₹18.1 lakh crore, reflecting an average gross monthly collection of almost ₹1.51 lakh crore.

The growth in GST collections in March was the fastest so far in 2023, marking the 12th month in a row that inflows were over ₹1.4 lakh crore and the fourth month in 2022-23 over the ₹1.5 lakh crore mark. March’s collections were only eclipsed previously in April 2022, when collections were ₹1,67,540 crore.

Integrated GST collections hit a record high of ₹82,907 crore in March 2023, including ₹42,503 crore collected on the import of goods. Indicating an uptick in compliance levels, returns filed by taxpayers during March has been the highest ever, the Finance Ministry said.

“93.2% of statement of invoices (in GSTR-1) and 91.4% of returns (in GSTR-3B) of February were filed till March 2023 as compared to 83.1% and 84.7% respectively, same month last year,” it emphasised.

The higher compliance trends under the GST regime could also help enhance the direct tax revenues to an extent, noted Vivek Jalan, partner at consultancy firm Tax Connect Advisory. “Businesses are gradually realising that compliance is the simplest way forward in the GST system,” he said.

The GST collections in March largely reflect transactions undertaken in the month of February. The revenue share between the Centre and the States during the month, after settling IGST collections, is ₹62,954 crore for the Central GST and ₹65,501 crore for the State GST, the Ministry said.