GST collections rise to Rs 95,610 cr in June

GST revenue mop-up rose to Rs 95,610 crore in June from Rs 94,016 crore in the previous month, Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said on Sunday.

In April 2018, the collections from Goods and Services Tax (GST) were over Rs 1.03 lakh crore.

The total number of GSTR3B returns filed for the month of May up to June 2018 is 64.69 lakh, the finance ministry said in a statement.

"The total gross revenue collected in June 2018 is Rs 95,610 crore," Adhia said.

The average monthly GST collections have been Rs 89,885 crore in the previous fiscal, which saw revenues at Rs 7.41 lakh crore in the JulyMarch period.

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal exuded confidence that GST collections will exceed Rs 13 lakh crore in the current fiscal and with increased revenues there will be further scope to rationalise the tax rates. He said with more number of people coming under the tax net, and successful implementation of eway bill system, there will be scope for rationalisation of tax slabs.

“I assure you that average monthly GST collection will cross Rs 1.10 lakh crore ... I feel more than Rs 13 lakh crore revenue will come from GST this fiscal,” Goyal said at the 'GST-Day' celebrations here. In the first year of GST in 2017-18, the government earned Rs 7.41 lakh crore from the tax since its roll out in July. The average monthly collection was Rs 89,885 crore.

In the current fiscal, the collections in April touched a record Rs 1.03 lakh crore, followed by Rs 94,016 crore in May and Rs 95,610 crore in June.

In June, total revenues earned by the Centre and states after settlement are Rs 31,645 crore for Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) and Rs 36,683 crore for State Goods and Services Tax (SGST), the ministry said. Of the total Rs 95,610 crore gross revenue collected in June, Rs 15,968 crore is on account of CGST, Rs 22,021 crore SGST, Rs 49,498 crore (including Rs. 24,493 crore collected on imports) on account of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) and Rs 8,122 crore from cess.

Adhia said that Rs 1 lakh crore revenue is "not the norm still". "We hope to bring it (GST revenue) to the level of Rs 1 lakh crore (every month),” he said while addressing the GSTDay celebrations here.

Adhia also said if bogus bills are not issued, then revenues would improve further in the coming months.

In June 2018, additional provisional settlement has been done and Rs 50,000 crore has been settled between the Centre and states. This is in addition to the earlier provisional settlement of Rs 35,000 crore in February 2018, the ministry added.

The finance minister also asked Adhia to look into the option of allowing composition scheme dealers to file returns yearly, instead of quarterly at present. The small and medium enterprises can opt for composition scheme which provides for a 1 per cent tax for traders and manufacturers while 5 per cent for restaurants. He also said that the Ministry would soon set up a system where businesses can discuss their problems relating to GST with revenue officials every month.