GST collections in March increased by 13 percent to reach the second-highest level ever of Rs 1.60 lakh crore, bringing the overall growth rate of revenue mop-up for the entire fiscal year 2022–2023 to 22 percent. More than 91 percent of GST-registered businesses filed returns and paid taxes in March, indicating increased compliance and a pickup in economic activity. According to the finance ministry, the total GST revenue collected in March 2023 was Rs 1,60,122 crore. This included Rs 29,546 crore in Central GST, Rs 37,314 crore in State GST, Rs 82,907 crore in Integrated GST (which included Rs 42,503 crore in GST collected on import of goods), and Rs 10,355 crore in Cess.According to the data, this is the fourth time in the financial year 2022-23 that the gross GST has crossed Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The collection for the month of March was second-highest collection to date. The amount of IGST collected this month was the highest ever. Revenues from the domestic transaction, which included the import of services, during the month were 14 percent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same months previous year. Revenues from the import of products were 8 percent higher during the month.According to a finance ministry notice, the number of returns filed in March increased to a record level. As of March 2023, over 93.2 percent of GSTR-1 statements of invoicing and 91.4 percent of GSTR-3B returns for February had been filed, compared to 83.1 percent and 84.7 percent, respectively, for the same month in 2022.Last financial year recorded a rise in gross GST collection by 22 percent, which was Rs 18.10 lakh crore and the average gross monthly collection of the full year was Rs 1.51 lakh crore. The gross revenue also recorded an increase of 22 percent in 2022-23. The average monthly collection of Rs 1.51 lakh crore, Rs 1.46 lakh crore and Rs 1.49 lakh crore in the first, second, and third quarters, respectively.State wise collectionUp to 16 States, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu (all around 15 percent), Bihar, and J&K make out the top 10 states by percentage (29.4 per cent). This includes the former State of Jammu & Kashmir, which reported domestic transaction growth in March that was higher than the 14.4 percent national average. Among the other States, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh had the slowest rates of growth (8.1 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively).Andhra Pradesh saw an increase in revenue of 11.3 percent, although bigger growth was seen in Maharashtra (11.8 percent), Kerala (12.7 percent), Telangana (13.25 percent), and West Bengal (13.9 percent). New Delhi paid Rs 33,408 crore to CGST and Rs 28,187 crore to SGST from IGST as a settlement in March.Over the past few years, various efforts have been made by the government to improve the tax base and improve compliance. Goods and Service Tax (GST) was introduced from July 1, 2017, in the country. Which, the states were assured for compensation for loss of any revenue arising on account of the implementation of GST as per the provisions of the GST Act, 2017 for five years. Before the GST, the Centre and the states were charging the goods separately and there were many taxes like excise duty, service tax, VAT, CST, Purchase tax, entertainment tax and others, due to which the cost of the items was increasing. When the major economies were facing headwinds because of unprecedented inflation during the Covid-19 pandemic, India is relatively safe. When economies are slowing down, India is still one of the major and fastest-growing economies.
