Monthly goods and Services Tax (GST) collections crossed Rs 1.4 trillion mark for the fourth time in a row, in June 2022, reflecting a new trend.

The gross GST revenue collected in June 2022 rose 56% to about Rs 1.45 trillion from Rs 0.93 trillion in the year-ago month, highlighting the effect of plugging of tax evasion and a sustained shift of business to the formal sector of the economy.

“The collection in June 2022 is not only the second highest but also has broken the trend of being low collection month as observed in the past. Total number of e-way bills generated in the month of May 2022 was 73 million, which is 2% less than 74 million e-way bills generated in April 2022,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

The average monthly gross GST collection for the first quarter of FY23 has been Rs 1.51 trillion against the average monthly collection of Rs 1.1 trillion in the first quarter of the last financial year, showing an increase of 37%. Coupled with economic recovery, anti-evasion activities, especially action against fake billers have been contributing to the enhanced GST. The gross cess collection in this month is the highest since introduction of GST, the ministry said.

“The consistent pattern of GST collections indicates that the Indian economy continues to show strong momentum. However, the said increase partly can be attributed to inflation and increased GST administration by the government,” said Saurabh Agarwal, Tax Partner, EY India.

The average monthly GST collections could be Rs 1.4-1.5 trillion in FY23, generating substantial additional revenue for the Centre and states in the year than budgeted.

The Budget FY23 has factored in average GST collections of Rs 1.2 trillion a month.The average monthly GST mop-up was Rs 1.23 trillion in FY22.

The gross GST revenue collected in June 2022 is Rs 1,44,616 crore of which CGST is Rs 25,306 crore, SGST is Rs 32,406 crore, IGST is Rs 75,887 crore (including Rs 40,102 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 11,018 crore (including Rs 1,197 crore collected on import of goods).