Average Monthly GST Collections To Grow 11% To Rs 1.85 Lakh Crore In FY25: Revenue Secy

The government expects average monthly GST collections to touch about Rs 1.85 lakh crore in the next fiscal, up from about Rs 1.66 lakh crore this year, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said on Friday.

In a post-Budget interview with PTI, Malhotra also said the incorporation date for startups to avail of tax benefits for three years out of 10 have been extended by a year till Mar. 31, 2025.

He also said the customs duty cut in mobile spare parts and components to 10% is intended to simplify tax structure, reduce classification disputes and should further spur investment in mobile manufacturing.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her 2024-25 interim Budget speech had said the GST taxpayer base as well as monthly revenues have doubled since its launch. The monthly Goods and Services Tax collection has crossed Rs 1.70 lakh crore in three months this fiscal, taking the average monthly mop-up to Rs 1.67 lakh crore in current fiscal.

"GST collections are expected to grow about 11% in 2024-25. If the monthly collection is Rs 1.67 lakh crore this fiscal, a growth of 11% would be Rs 1.80-1.85 lakh crore monthly collections. This should be the new normal for GST collection in the next fiscal," Malhotra said.

In the next fiscal, the Budget has estimated GST collections at Rs 10.68 lakh crore, a 11.6% growth over Rs 9.57 lakh crore mop-up in 2023-24.

With regard to duty cut on imports of mobile spare parts notified on Jan. 30, Malhotra said the revenue implication will be about Rs 500 crore.

"The duty cut simplifies the taxation structure and classification dispute because some of the mobile parts were at 15%, some at 10%, so there were some overlap. So, to avoid disputes, we have reduced tax rates to 10%.

"Manufacturing of mobile is doing very well in India and this will hopefully further spur investment in the mobile manufacturing sector in the country," Malhotra said.

The government estimates to collect Rs 2.31 lakh crore in customs duty in the next fiscal, higher than Rs 2.19 lakh crore this fiscal.

About revenue implications, he said customs revenue is a small part of gross total revenue.

"Neither is customs duty a primary source of revenue nor the primary purpose of customs is to gather revenue. So, the revenue implication is minuscule, less than Rs 500 crore," Malhotra added.