The collection of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in March 2024 increased by 11.5 per cent on an annual basis, amounting to Rs 1.78 lakh crore, which is the second highest since its implementation in July 2017. This increase can be attributed to a significant rise in GST collection from domestic transactions, which increased by 17.6 per cent. The Finance Ministry released a press statement on Monday saying that the GST revenue, net of refunds, grew by 18.4 per cent year on year (YoY) to Rs 1.65 lakh crore in March.
Out of the total collections, Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) accounted for Rs 34,532 crore, State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) was Rs 43,746 crore, and Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) was Rs 87,947 crore, which includes Rs 40,322 crore collected on imported goods. The Cess collections stood at Rs 12,259 crore, with Rs 996 crore collected on imported goods.
The highest-ever GST collection was recorded at Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April 2023. In February, the GST collection increased by 12.5 per cent to Rs 1.7 lakh crore, which was the fifth highest since its rollout.
For the financial year 2023-2024, GST collection saw an 11.7 per cent increase at Rs 20.14 lakh crore. The average GST collected per month in FY24 rose to Rs 1.68 lakh crore from Rs 1.5 lakh crore the previous year. The GST revenue net of refunds for the whole financial year stood at Rs 18.01 lakh crore, which is up 13.4 per cent YoY.
“The diversification of contributions from states beyond the traditionally dominant ones like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu is a positive sign,” said Ankur Gupta, Practice leader of indirect tax, SW India.
