April GST collection sets new record, surges over Rs 1.41 lakh crore

New Delhi: India's gross GST revenue collection reached a new record high of over Rs 1.41 lakh crore in April 2021, beating all expectations of lower collections in wake disruptions clauses by fresh wave of Covid-19.

Accordingly, the GST revenues during April 2021 are the highest since the introduction of the tax. The same feat was achieved even in March when collections at over Rs 1.23 lakh crore was the highest since introduction of GST in 2017.

"In line with the trend of recovery in the GST revenues over past six months, the revenues for the month of April 2021 are 14% higher than the GST revenues in the last month of March'2021," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

"During the month, the revenues from domestic transaction (including import of services) are 21 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the last month."

According to the statement, the gross GST revenue collected in the month of April 2021 is at a record of Rs 1,41,384 crore of which CGST is Rs 27,837 crore, SGST is Rs 35,621, IGST is Rs 68,481 crore (including Rs 29,599 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is Rs 9,445 crore (including Rs 981 crore collected on import of goods).

"During this month 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 the States after regular and ad-hoc settlements in the month of April' 2021 is Rs 57,022 crore for CGST and Rs 58,377 crore for the SGST."

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, the Finance Ministry statement said.

"The all-time high collections which relates to supplies made in March 21 could now give way to muted collections in the coming months due to the lower economic activities in April. The continuing focus on improving compliance and the steps taken to curb evasion appears to be significantly improving the GST collections," said M. S. Mani, Senior Director, Deloitte India.

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

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, it added.

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.