The indirect tax collection for FY24 has surpassed the revised estimates (RE) of Rs 14.84 lakh crore by “a handsome margin”, supported by a record GST mop-up, a government official expressed. Praising the measures of tax officials, CBIC chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, in a letter to field officials, expressed, “I am happy to inform that the indirect tax collections for the Financial Year 2023-24, including Customs and Union Excise Duty have exceeded the Revised Estimates by a handsome margin”.
The same achievement shows professionalism and stresses the power of teamwork and perseverance within the CBIC community, he expressed, adding that “your relentless efforts have not gone unnoticed, and I extend my heartfelt appreciation to every member for their invaluable contributions throughout the year”.
With the collection of Rs 20.18 lakh crore, the gross GST mop up for 2023-24 attains a milestone comprising state GST, Central GST, integrated GST, and compensation cess surpasses the collection of the previous year by 11.7 per cent, the CBIC chairman expressed.
The Revised estimates for central GST, along with the compensation cess, was Rs 9.57 lakh crore, and for excise duty, the same was Rs 3.08 lakh crore and customs Rs 2.19 lakh crore.
In February this year in the Interim Budget presented, the government raised the target for direct tax collection in FY24 (April 2023 to March 2024) to Rs 19.45 lakh crore, while for indirect taxes including GST, Customs and Excise the target was lowered to Rs 14.84 lakh crore.
In the former fiscal the GST remained higher with the collections attaining a record high of Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April 2023 and the second-highest GST collection coming in at Rs 1.78 lakh crore in March 2024.
As per the modified estimate, the gross tax collection target stood at Rs 34.37 lakh crore for FY24.
Tax collection is a reflection of economic activity. As per NSO estimates India is recording a world-beating growth rate and is projected to grow at 7.6 per cent in 2023-24.
The major economic momentum of the country comes from Domestic consumption and government capex.
By over 8 per cent Indian economy grew for 3 consecutive quarters (April-December), and various agencies have revised the growth estimates of India for FY24 closer to 8 per cent.
For FY24 SBI Research and Moody’s expect Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to be 8 per cent. Fitch and Barclays raised their growth forecast to 7.8 per cent.