Govt may discontinue monthly GST releases; shorter statement on the cards

Govt may discontinue monthly GST releases; shorter statement on the cards

The finance ministry may discontinue the practice of releasing a statement outlining GST collections data on the first day of every month, a source in the know of the matter said, adding that later on the earlier format of the statement, which was detailed, is likely to be replaced with a more succinct version.

GST collection data for July 2024 is Rs 1.74 lakh crore, as per sources on July 1. However, an official statement outlining the mop-up has not been released yet.

Seemingly, ministry officials have cited "clarity" as the primary reason behind the government's move, which includes potentially opting for a shorter version of the statement on monthly GST collections.

Not too long ago, former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian raised concerns regarding India’s GST numbers on social media platform X. He said that the focus should be on revenues, net of refunds, and not on headline collections.

The source further said that the altered version of the statement on GST collections per month may mostly have headline figures such as -- total collections and overall Central GST and State GST mop-up numbers.

However, a final call on whether a shorter version on monthly GST releases will at all be put out by the ministry is yet to be taken.