GST Collections Rise To Rs 1.94 Lakh Crore In May 2026; What’s Fuelling India’s Tax Revenue Growth?

GST Collections For May 2026: GST collection showed continued momentum in May 2026 as the gross collections registered a growth of 3.2% over the corresponding period of last year and stood at Rs 1,94,184 crore, the government said in its release on Friday (1st June). Net collection of GST was Rs 166,904 crore, a growth of 3.3% over the same period in 2025. Although the revenue collection came in lower than the previous month’s record collection of Rs 24,270.2 crore, the trend shows that indirect tax revenue remains buoyant in the economy despite stable economic activity. Overall trends also look positive. In the first two months of the financial year (April-May 2026) gross GST collection was Rs 4,36,887 crore compared with Rs 411,437 crore during April-May 2025, which is a rise of 6.2%.

Import Taxes Drive Revenue Growth

One big positive from May’s GST data was robust growth in tax collections from imports.

GST collection from imports rose to Rs 59,654 crore in May (Y-o-Y at 19.1% from Rs 50,070 in May 2025). The net GST from imports also grew by 19.7% to Rs 49,403 crore.

Import collections increased significantly, outstripping domestic revenue growth and indicating more imports and tax revenue from overseas trade.

Domestic GST Collections Show Slight Softness

GST collections (domestic) are moderating, and import collections are robust.

The gross domestic revenue fell 2.6% year-on-year to Rs 1,34,530 crore from Rs 1,38,102 crore in the year-ago period. Net domestic revenue also fell 2.3% for the month.

The central GST (CGST) accounted for Rs 37,397 crore, state GST (SGST) contributed Rs 45,143 crore, and integrated GST (IGST) was Rs 51,990 crore for domestic collections.

The difference between the two sets of collections suggests that May’s tax revenue growth was more due to external trade than domestic consumption.

Refunds Continue To Rise

The government settled Rs 27,281 crore as GST refunds in May 2026, up 2.6% over the year-ago period.

Domestic refunds were Rs 17,030 crore, whereas export-related refunds grew at a faster pace of 16.6% YoY. The higher refund outflow is due to continuous efforts to improve the liquidity of businesses and exporters.

Statewise GST collections in May 2026

Maharashtra contributed the most to GST collection in the country in the month of May. The state’s domestic GST collection was Rs 29,141 crore, compared to Rs 29,236 crore in the same month last year.

Karnataka collections grew 1% only to Rs.13,130 crore.

Gujarat collections grew 1% only to Rs.11,206 crore.

Huge Variation Across States & Union Territories

The GST figures displayed quite a variation across the different states and union territories in their collection growth trajectory.

A steep increase of 38% has been recorded in the revenues of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu; the amount stands at Rs 483 crore.

On the other hand, collections for Lakshadweep plunged 82% to Rs 1 crore and for Sikkim by 53%; the revenue for the latter dropped to Rs 200 crore.

What The Numbers Are Saying

The GST numbers might seem to portray a varied, but largely positive, scenario for the economy. Higher collections on account of imports and overall revenues reflect the positive contribution of trade flows and economic activity to the tax collections. The slowdown in domestic GST revenues suggests the weakness in consumption demand across some of the sectors still exists. Economic participants and policymakers will observe the economy more closely in the subsequent months to assess the future trend of domestic collections as the economy continues in FY27.

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