Goods and services tax (GST) collections by the Centre and states exceeded the ₹1 trillion mark for the fifth straight month in February, aided by an aggressive drive to improve compliance and recovery in economic activities.
The sustained rise in GST collections, staging a recovery after a steep drop in April when India was in a national lockdown, offers relief to policymakers seeking to bridge a massive revenue shortfall.
Data released by the finance ministry showed GST collections rose 7% to ₹1.13 trillion in February from a year ago after record collections in January. After the settlement of revenue from inter-state transactions, the Centre received ₹67,490 crore and states received ₹68,807 crore in the month. February receipts refer to sales made in January.
“GST revenues crossed ₹ 1 trillion for the fifth time in a row and exceeded ₹ 1.1 trillion for the third time in a row post the pandemic despite this being revenue collection of the month of February. This is a clear indication of the economic recovery and the impact of various measures taken by tax administration to improve compliance,” the finance ministry said in a note.
Stringent steps against fake-invoicing, data analytics using information from various agencies handling GST have contributed to the steady increase in GST collections in recent months.
