According to Mr. Sanjay Malhotra, the Revenue Secretary, there has been a notable 11% year-over-year increase in goods and services tax (GST) collections for August 2023. This boost in revenue can be attributed to heightened compliance and a reduction in tax evasion.
For context, in August 2022, the GST collection amounted to Rs. 1,43,612 crore (equivalent to approximately US$ 17.36 billion). Consequently, this 11% surge translates to an impressive figure of around Rs. 1.60 lakh crore (about US$ 19 billion) for August 2023. This achievement pushes the tax-to-GDP ratio to a robust level exceeding 1.3.
Mr. Sanjay Malhotra emphasizes that this remarkable increase in GST collections has been achieved without any upward adjustment in tax rates. Instead, the key drivers behind this success story are improved compliance and more effective tax collection measures that have outpaced the growth of nominal GDP.
