Monthly GST collection above Rs 1.6 lakh crore is now standard: FM

FM Nirmala Sitharaman says GST not working in India a myth.

The monthly Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue remaining over Rs 1.6 lakh crore has become the new normal since the implementation in 2017, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a press briefing on the occasion of GST Day 2023.

Six years after the rollout of the biggest indirect tax reform in India, GST revenue of Rs 1.5 lakh crore every month has become a new normal and tax officers are focusing on dealing with fraudsters who are adopting newer modus operandi to game the system, causing loss to the exchequer.

"GST was the signal we all welcomed in 2017 for the economic integration of new India," said Sitharaman, adding that the tax regime has brought down taxes on goods and encouraged better movement of goods across the country.

Speaking at the event, the finance minister also noted that after implementation of GST, tax growth was 12.3 percent while GDP growth was 9 percent, resulting in high buoyancy. States’ tax bouyancy has grown by 1.15 percent even without GST compensation. "GST has brought higher tax buoyancy for states. No state has suffered or lost out due to GST. Even without GST compensation, states tax buoyancy at 1.15%," she said.

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Moreover, Sitharaman also highlighted that the tax regime is not only for businesses but also for the betterment of end consumers, while reiterating that decisions taken by the GST Council are for the common man.

She also pointed out that from the time of introduction of GST, there has been a reduction in rates. Washing machine, TV, which were earlier taxed at 31.5 percent now at 12 percent under GST, movie tickets above Rs 100 brought down to 18 percent. Movie tickets if currently at higher rate is because local authorities added tax to It.

Listing her arguments, Sitharaman added that thus, GST not working in India stands as a myth.

Meanwhile, GST collections for the month of June rose 12 percent year-on-year to over Rs 1.61 lakh crore. The revenues had touched a record high of Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April.

The gross GST collection has crossed Rs 1.60 lakh crore mark for the fourth time since the roll-out of the indirect tax regime six years ago on July 1, 2017. The average monthly gross GST collection for the first (April-June) quarter of the 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 are Rs 1.10 lakh crore, Rs 1.51 lakh crore and Rs 1.69 lakh crore, respectively, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on July 1.