• Notification Date: 03-03-2023
• Notification No: N/A

February GST Collection at Rs 1.50 lakh crore, up 12% YoY

The gross goods and service tax (GST) revenue collection in the month of February 2023 stood at Rs 1,49,577 crore, up around 12% on an annual basis. With this, the monthly GST revenues remained over Rs 1.4 lakh crore for 12 straight months in a row, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. 
 
The GST revenue in February 2022 was Rs 1,33,026 crore. Out of the total revenue collected, CGST is Rs 27,662 crore, SGST is Rs 34,915 crore, IGST is Rs 75,069 crore (including ₹35,689 crore collected on import of goods) while cess is Rs 11,931 crore (including Rs 792 crore collected on import of goods). 

"During the month, revenues from import of goods were 6% higher and the revenues from domestic transaction (including import of services) are 15% higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year. This month witnessed the highest cess collection of ₹11,931 crores since implementation of GST," the ministry said. 
 
ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said the sequential dip in the GST collections in February 2023 is partly on account of the boost to the January figure from the quarter-ending inflows for the month of December, which were remitted in the following month. 
 
Tax Connect Advisory Partner Vivek Jalan said the improvement in GST collections is a result of increased audits, assessments and proceedings in large entities which thereafter impact the entire supply chain. The monthly GST revenue has remained at more than Rs 1.4 lakh crore for 12 months in a row, including February. 
Deloitte India Partner M S Mani said all the large states have reported significant increases ranging from 10 per cent to 24 per cent compared to the same month last year and this indicate that the economic growth and the steps taken to improve compliance are yielding results. 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who presented the 2023/24 budget in February, projected a 12% growth in net GST collection for the central government. For 2022/23, the government aims to collect Rs 8.54 lakh crore. 
 
Vivek Johri, Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), recently said that Rs 1.5 lakh crore in GST collection has become the new normal and that the Board is confident that it will cross this figure in the coming year. 

Johri said that the biggest reason for increased GST collection is that there has been a significant increase in I-T return filing and compliance. Both the Centre and the state governments have worked together. The return filing percentage has increased a lot, he said, adding, "Along with that the economy has also picked up." He said the economy has become robust and the effect of Covid is over. "There has also been some increase due to inflation," he added.