India's Goods and services tax (GST) collection remained above £14 billion for the fifth month in a row, increasing 28 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to nearly £14.9 billion in July. This was the second-highest mop-up since the rollout of the regime.
The uptick is mainly on account of improved economic activities, compliance measures and inflation. The highest-ever mop-up was recorded in April this year (£16.8 billion.
“GST revenue has grown 35 per cent YoY till July, displaying very high buoyancy,” the finance ministry said while releasing the data. The finance ministry also said that this was an impact of various measures taken by the GST Council to ensure better compliance.
“Better reporting, coupled with economic recovery, has had a positive impact on the revenues on a consistent basis,” the ministry said. GST collection stood at £11.6 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, according to the government data.
Of the mop-up in July, Central GST (CGST) stood at £2.57 billion, state GST (SGST) £3.28 billion, integrated GST (IGST) £7.95 billion (including £4.14 billion collected on import of goods), and cess mop-up £1.09 billion (including £99.5 million from import of goods).
Experts say that rising inflation has contributed to the momentum in the revenue collection which could provide a cushion to the states as the guaranteed compensation period ended in June.
