The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections crossed the Rs 2 lakh crore mark for the second consecutive month in May 2025. As per the data released by the Ministry of Finance, gross GST collections in May stood at Rs 2.01 lakh crore, which is a 16.4% rise compared to last year.The gross revenues from domestic transactions in May increased by 13.7% to approximately Rs 1.50 lakh crore, whilst GST revenue from imports saw a 25.2% rise to Rs 51,266 crore.The breakdown of May’s collections shows gross Central GST at Rs 35,434 crore, State GST at Rs 43,902 crore, and Integrated GST at about Rs 1.09 lakh crore. Additionally, Cess collections amounted to Rs 12,879 crore.For comparison, the collection in May, 2024, stood at Rs 1,72,739 crore. During the month, aggregate refunds decreased by 4% to Rs 27,210 crore.The net GST collection reached approximately Rs 1.74 lakh crore, showing a 20.4% increase compared to the previous year.GST collections had hit a record lifetime high of Rs 2.37 lakh crore in April, reflecting a 12.6 per cent growth compared to the previous year, as per the government data. The figure in April exceeded the second-highest revenue of Rs 2.10 lakh crore documented in April 2024, following the introduction of the indirect taxation framework on July 1, 2017. The GST revenue gathered in March 2025 amounted to Rs 1.96 lakh crore.The government’s Budget estimates indicate an expected increase of 11% in GST earnings, with anticipated collections reaching Rs 11.78 lakh crore, which includes both Central GST and compensation cess elements.Reacting to the numbers, Abhishek Jain, Indirect Tax Head& Partner, KPMG said, “It’s encouraging to see GST collections once again cross the ₹2 lakh crore mark. While last month’s spike was expected with year-end reconciliations, the consistency this month along with a 16 plus percent year-on-year growth points to strong underlying momentum and a recovery that’s clearly taking hold.”Deloitte India Partner M S Mani noted that the substantial differences in GST collection growth across states necessitate a detailed sector-wise examination for each state.Whilst major states including Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu recorded collection increases between 17% and 25%, other significant states such as Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana showed growth up to 6%..States including Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan demonstrated moderate increases of 10%.“Hence, the average growth across the country does not appear to be uniformly reflected across states possibly due to sectoral or seasonal factors which require a deeper data based analysis,” Mani said.
