GST collection has been increasing on an annual basis since its implementation on July 1, 2017, with the average gross monthly mop-up in the current fiscal year totaling Rs 1.66 lakh crore, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday. In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, she stated that the GST collection exceeded Rs 1.50 lakh crore in every month of the current fiscal year and would reach a record high of Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April 2023.

"Since the implementation of GST on July 1st, 2017, GST collection has shown an increased tendency on a year-on-year basis... "The average gross monthly GST collection in FY 2023-24 is now Rs 1.66 lakh crore, which is 11% higher than the same period in the previous fiscal year," Sitharaman added.

In 2022-23, the average monthly Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection was more than Rs 1.50 lakh crore, up from Rs 1.23 lakh crore in 2021-22. The average monthly mop-up in 2020-21 was Rs 94,734 crore.

In response to a second question, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary stated that the monthly average gross GST collection for 2021-22 and 2022-23 has increased by 30% and 22% year on year, respectively.

"GST is paid on a self-assessment basis, and tax administration at the Central and State levels has the authority to take action in cases where GST is not paid or is underpaid." Detecting such crimes and recovering unpaid or underpaid taxes is an ongoing effort, according to Chaudhary.

He stated that the government has implemented various GST changes based on the GST Council's recommendations, adding that these steps will improve GST compliance and raise GST collection.

These include structural changes such as the calibration of GST rates to correct the inverted duty structure and the pruning of exemptions; tax compliance measures such as mandating e-way bills, ITC matching, mandating e-invoice, the deployment of artificial intelligence and machine-based analytics, aadhaar authentication for registration, calibrated action on non-filers, and stop filers.

In addition, system-based analytical tools and red flag reports created by the system are shared with central and state tax authorities in order to take action against tax evaders.

In response to another query, Chaudhary stated that the central government established State Benches of the GST Appellate Tribunal on the proposal of the GST Council. Chaudhary provided information on the amount of pending appeals over tax demands raised by Central GST officials, stating that 14,897 appeals were pending as of October 31, 2023. This is more than the 11,899 pending appeals as of March 31, 2023.