Govt reports 8.7% growth in GST collection for April

The government data has shown that total Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection rose to a record of ₹2,42,702 crore in April 2026 as compared to ₹2,23,265 crore in April 2025, a growth of 8.7%. The growth was driven by higher import revenues despite the West Asia-related geopolitical headwinds. Collections are typically strong in April, reflecting year-end book reconciliations by businesses in March.

Of the total, gross domestic revenue was ₹1,85,122 crore (a growth of 4.3% over the previous year) and gross import revenue was ₹57,580 crore (a growth of 25.8% over the previous year). Of the total gross GST revenue, CGST (Central GST) was ₹52,140 crore, SGST (State GST) was ₹61,331 crore and IGST (Integrated GST) was ₹1,29,232 crore.

Total Refund issuance during April rose 19.3% to ₹31,793 crore. After adjusting refunds, net GST revenues in April 2026 stood at about ₹2,10,909 crore, up 7.3% as compared to ₹1,96,618 crore in the same month of the previous year.

According to the data, several states such as Maharashtra (+40%), Karnataka (+42%), Telangana (+36%) and Puducherry (+108%) recorded strong YoY SGST growth in April, while some states like Ladakh (-8%) and Jharkhand (0%) saw declines or no change.

Earlier, March 2026 saw the third-highest collection in the 2025-26 fiscal (April-March), with April 2025 recording the highest-ever GST revenues at over ₹2.36 lakh crore, followed by May’s collection at over ₹2.01 lakh crore. For the full 2025-26 fiscal, GST collections grew 8.3% Y-o-Y to ₹22,27,096 crore.

Meanwhile, GST rates on about 375 items were slashed, making goods cheaper, effective September 2025. Also, four tax slabs of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% were merged into two of 5% and 18%, with the highest 40% slab for a select few ultra luxury goods and tobacco products.