Delhi, India: Despite a slowdown in the mop-up from imported goods, GST collections in February increased by 12.4% to Rs 1,49,577 crore. According to data from the finance ministry, February marked the 12th consecutive month that the kitty exceeded Rs 1.4 lakh crore (collections for January transactions). Due to the month's 28 days, February typically sees a lower revenue collection, the ministry stated in a statement.
Additionally, the figures indicated that cess collections reached a record high of Rs 11,931 crore in the previous month. The cess on luxury and sinful goods like cars, tobacco, soft drinks, yachts, aircraft, and coal has exceeded Rs 11,000 crore only twice since GST was implemented in July 2017.
The domestic collections in February increased by 15%, while the mop-up from imports increased by 6%, indicating a slowdown in imports. Chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran attributed the decrease in imports in December and January to the easing of oil prices.
According to disaggregated data for February, integrated GST collections, including those for imports, increased by 11% while state and central GST collections increased by 13% each.
It is anticipated that the IGST on imports has increased by 5.5 percent to Rs 35,689 crore. Cess collection increased by 15.4%, but cess on imported goods increased by 24% to Rs 792 crore.
“The sequential and year-over-year contraction in merchandise imports in January 2023 is likely to have dampened the GST revenues from goods imports. We anticipate that the revised CGST collection estimates for FY2023 will be met. Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ratings agency ICRA, stated, "There could be some shortfall in direct taxes relative to the FY2023 revised estimates."
Meghalaya was the only state that saw a decline in revenue, while Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Telangana, Odisha, and Assam all reported growth rates that were lower than the national average.
Mizoram, on the other hand, saw a 138% increase in collections.
