The ₹1,02,709 crore collected as GST in May includes revenues from domestic transactions till June 4.

India’s Gross GST revenue fell to ₹1.02 lakh crore in May, from a record ₹1.41 lakh crore in April

The May collections, broadly pertaining to transactions in April, are the lowest since September 2020, which recorded a revenue of ₹95,480 crore.

Economists expect the collections to dip further in June even though the current lockdowns across States may not be denting activity as much as last year’s national lockdown.

The ₹1,02,709 crore collected in May includes revenues from domestic transactions till June 4. This is 65% higher than May 2020, when just ₹62,151 crore was received amid the national lockdown that began in late March 2020.

“The actual revenues for the month of May 2021 would be higher and would be known when all the extended (compliance) dates expire,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement, citing the relaxations given to taxpayers in filing returns in the wake of the second wave of COVID-19.

“…While the taxpayers with turnover above ₹5 crore had to file their returns by June 4, which they would have otherwise filed by May 20, smaller taxpayers with turnover less than ₹5 crore still have time till first week of July to file the returns without any late fee and interest and the revenue from these taxpayers is deferred till then,” it explained.

The GST collections of over ₹1 lakh crore indicated that the economic impact of the lockdowns had been much lower than expected, said MS Mani, senior director at Deloitte India. “A close watch is required on the next month’s collections to determine the extent of the impact on GST collections for 2021-22,” he noted.