With strong mop-up from imported goods and year-end stock clearance, Goods & Services Taxes (GST) collections in April rose to an all-time high of ₹2.42 lakh crore. Unlike previous years, this record collection in April was achieved without compensation cess.

Collections in the corresponding month of last fiscal stood at ₹2.33 lakh crore — a year-on-year growth of 8.7 per cent. It may be noted that collections is April reflect goods consumed and services availed in March.

Data from GST portal show that collections from domestic sources is over ₹ 1.85 crore, showing a growth of 4.3 per cent. At the same time, gross import revenue stood at over ₹57,000 crore, showing a growth of 25.8 per cent. Total refund increased by 19.3 per cent taking the net collection to around ₹ 2.11 lakh crore, a 7.3 per cent hike compared to the corresponding month of last fiscal.

According to Vivek Jalan, Partner at Tax Connect, net domestic collections remained flat as refunds — primarily under the inverted duty structure — spiked by 54 per cent. These refunds exclude the growing ITC accumulation on input services, which continues under GST 2.0’s deepened inverted duty framework. “While this accumulation has maintained collections, it has simultaneously raised business expenses, a concern flagged to the GST Council for correction in its upcoming 57th meeting,” he said.

“Additional support to domestic collections came from pre‑deposits linked to Section 74 orders for FY 2019‑20 issued before March 31, 2026. A major compliance shift also shaped April’s inflows: the recalibration of ITC set‑off sequencing on the GST portal, following withdrawal of the February 2026 advisory that had temporarily allowed IGST liability to be set off first against SGST credit. Together, these factors highlight how domestic GST revenues are being maintained — anchored by compliance recalibrations, litigation‑driven pre‑deposits, and structural refund dynamics,” he said.

Published on May 1, 2026