The Goods and Services Tax (GST) cash collection in November 2021 grew by 32 percent to Rs 1845 Crore in Punjab, the second-highest since the Central tax regime came into force.

This collection is second only to that in April 2021 but also the growth rate experienced is third highest in the country across the major states after Odisha and Kerala, an official spokesperson of the taxation commissionerate said.

He said the GST revenue receipts for Punjab in November 2021 stood at Rs 1377.77 Crore against Rs 1067 Crore for the corresponding period of the previous year (November 2020) registering a strong growth of 29 percent. This is very much in line with the trend in economic recovery.

The spokesperson said the GST revenue up to the month of November 2021 has witnessed a high growth of nearly 54 percent as compared to the corresponding period last year.

The high growth in GST revenue can be attributed to compliance improvement on account of both policy and administrative measures undertaken by the State Government as well as the strict enforcement measures adopted in coordination with the Central tax enforcement agencies.

The deployment of effective data analysis based on machine learning and intelligent on-road detention has played an important role in the detection of large tax evasion cases relating to fake invoices and enhanced compliance.

The tax collection from value-added tax (VAT) and central sales tax (CST) during the month of November 2021 is Rs 949.44 Crore and Rs 20.19 Crore respectively. As compared to the same period last year, VAT and CST revenue collection have displayed respective growth of 28.73 percent and 11.49 percent this year.

The robust growth in VAT revenue is predominantly attributable to an increase in the average tax rate in October 2021 over October 2020.

The spokesperson said as a result of consistent efforts from the Taxation department to register new eligible taxpayers, the professional tax has also shown growth of 18 percent during November 2021 with a collection of Rs 12.34 Crore over Rs 10.45 Crore during November 2020.