The introduction of e-way bill from April 1 seems to have improved overall Goods and Services Tax (GST) compliance. This is evident from both better collection and higher number of returns filed. The total GST collection for the month of April 2018 (collected in May) is Rs 94,016 crore, compared to the average Rs 89,885 crore recorded in 2017/18.
Out of Rs 94,016 crore, Central GST (CGST) collected has been Rs 15,866 crore, State GST (SGST) was Rs 21,691 crore and Integrated GST (IGST) is Rs 49,120 crore (including Rs 24,447 crore collected on imports) and cesses Rs 7,339 crore.
The total revenue earned by the central government and state governments after settlement in the month of May, 2018 is Rs 28,797 crore for CGST and Rs 34,020 crore for SGST.
The finance ministry in a statement said that "Though the current month's revenue collection is less compared to last month's revenue, still the gross revenue collection in the month of May (Rs. 94,016 crore) is much higher than the monthly average of GST collection in the last financial year (Rs 89,885 crore). The April revenue figure was higher because of year end effect." The April figure refers to the collection done for the month of March.
On 29 May Rs 6,696 crore has been released to the states as GST compensation for the month of March, 2018. Therefore, the total GST compensation released to the states for 2017/18 (July 2017 to March 2018) has been Rs 47,844 crore.
Meanwhile, the number of returns filed for the month of April (till 31 May) is 62.46 lakh as against 60.47 lakh in March 2018.
Under the e-way bill, any transporter moving goods more than Rs 50,000 has to generate electronic way bill or e-way bill. The purpose of e-way bill was to keep a track of movement of goods so that tax evasion can be curtailed. Both inter-state and intra-state e-way bills have come into force. While e-way bills for inter-state transport of goods started was applicable from April 1, 2018, the states started implementing intra-state e-way bills in a staggered manner from April 15. From June 1, all states have mandatorily started implementing e-way bills on transport of goods within states.