India's Gross GST Revenue Collection Up 12% in June

NEW DELHI: With India’s goods and services tax or GST having completed six years on Saturday, the ministry of finance said that India's gross GST revenue collection in June stood at over Rs 1.61 lakh crore, registering a 12 per cent growth year-on-year basis. "In April, the country saw a record-high of GST collection at Rs 1.87 lakh crore and Rs 1.57 lakh crore in May as well. However, the gross GST collection crossed Rs 1.6 lakh crore mark for fourth time since inception of GST, Rs 1.4 lakh crore for 16 months in a row and Rs 1.5 lakh crore 7 times since its inception," the ministry said.

The One Nation, One Tax or the GST regime came into effect on July 1, 2017 across the country, overhauling the previous indirect tax regime and subsuming multiple central and state-level taxes within itself. This was a major taxation reform. Not only did it create a single tax rate for any commodity across the country, but it was also considered a stepping stone to significantly bolstering tax revenue for the government, while also easing the compliance and tax burden on individuals and businesses. "Today is the 6th Goods and Services Tax #GST Day as GST was launched on 1st July 2017. Let’s trace  this iconic journey of #OneNation #OneTax #OneMarket and see how GST@6 is nurturing the Economic Ecosystem of India," the finance ministry tweeted.

As per a statement issued by the finance ministry, the gross GST revenue collected in the month of June, 2023 is Rs 1,61,497 crore of which CGST is Rs 31,013 crore, SGST is Rs 38,292 crore, IGST is Rs 80,292 crore (including Rs 39,035 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 11,900 crore (including Rs 1,028 crore collected on import of goods). "The government has settled Rs 36,224 crore to CGST and Rs 30,269 crore to SGST from IGST. The total revenue of Centre and the States in the month of June 2023 after regular settlement is Rs 67,237 crore for CGST and Rs 68,561 crore for the SGST," it said.

"During the month, revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) are 18 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year. It is for the fourth time that the gross GST collection has crossed the Rs 1.60 lakh crore mark. The average monthly gross GST collection for the first quarter of FY 2021-22, FY 22-23 & FY 23-24 are Rs 1.10 lakh crore, Rs 1.51 lakh crore and Rs 1.69 lakh crore respectively," the ministry said.

Even after six years of rollout of this unique tax regime, tax experts now call for key reforms, such as setting up tribunals for appeals and including petroleum products in the regime. "While revenue from the indirect tax system has been growing robustly, there is a need for a few urgent reforms. These include easing the process by which people can appeal against orders by tax authorities, and bringing in at least some petroleum products within the ambit of GST," they said.

However, traders' body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Saturday also called for a fresh review of GST, saying that a special task force should be constituted to suggest ways to reduce multiplicity of laws and regulations on traders under the indirect tax system. The CAIT also described the completion of six years of implementation of GST in the country as a landmark success.

The trader body further said that much more needs to be done to make the GST a simplified and rationalised tax system. "The GST tax system should be made stable and more simplified by removing the current existing anomalies. For this, a special task force should be constituted, in which besides senior government officials, representatives of businessmen and industry should be included," said CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal.

"While this task force will on one hand give suggestions to rationalize the GST tax system and reduce multiplicity of laws and regulations on traders, on the other hand it will also suggest how to increase and enlarge tax net. Suggestions will also be given to prevent fake billing, tax evasion and wrong inputs," Khandelwal added.

"It is a shame that GST is being called burdensome and 'Gabbar Singh Tax' because this country should know that a step like GST has actually brought relief to common citizens," said Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman while addressing an event on GST Day in New Delhi.