Goods and services tax collections went up by 10% to £17.27 bn in May as the growth in collection from domestic sources made up for the shortfall in the imports kitty.
Based on collections in May for transactions in April, latest data released by the finance ministry estimated collections from domestic sources to be 15.3% higher, while those from imports were 4.5% lower, indicating a slowdown in the value of shipments into the country, which may partly be due to a fall in commodity prices.
For the last two years, higher than budgeted GST kitty have helped the Centre shore up its overall collections, and lower fiscal deficit. “These collections indicate the beginning of a new normal in excess of £17 bn in FY25 compared to £16 bn during FY24. This is in line with the recent GDP estimates which indicate a robust economy, which does not appear to have been impacted much either by the election season or the heat wave across the country. The resilience shown by the GST collections, without significant seasonal or event-based variations across recent months, indicates the maturity of the GST system.
