NEW DELHI: Despite the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic affecting several parts of the country, April set a fresh record for Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections at a whooping Rs 1.41 lakh crore.

According to government data released April’s GST revenues for the month of April 2021 are 14 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the last month of March 2021. 

GST collections have consistently crossed the Rs 1-lakh crore mark for the last seven months. “Despite the second wave of Coronavirus pandemic affecting several parts of the country, Indian businesses have once again shown remarkable resilience by not only complying with the return-filing requirements but also paying their GST dues in a timely manner during the month,” the government said in an official statement. 

In April, the revenues from the domestic transaction (including import of services) were 21 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the last month. Of the total collections, Central GST (CGST) amounted to about 27,837 crores, State GST (SGST) was Rs 35,621 crore, Integrated GST (IGST) was Rs 68,481 crore (including Rs 29,599 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess was Rs 9,445 crore (including Rs 981 crore collected on import of goods). 

“These are clear indicators of sustained economic recovery during this period. Closer monitoring against fake-billing, deep data analytics using data from multiple sources, including GST, Income Tax and Customs IT systems and effective tax administration have also contributed to the steady increase in tax revenue,” the government said.