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The Government has assured trade and industry that growth will not be compromised at all and new reforms shall be in place soon to ease compliance and impact of geo-political conflict. According to Finance Minister, there is never a shut door when it comes to reforms. Every challenge is an opportunity.
NITI Ayog has been revamped with former CEA, Mr. Ashok Lahiri being appointed as Vice-Chairman, Prime Minister being ex-officio Chairman. There are four new whole-time members viz, K.V. Raju, Gobardhan Das, Abhay Karndikar and M. Srinivas, Rajiv Gauba shall continue to be another member.
To help exporters, CBIC has decided to process RoDTEP and RoSCTL scrolls within three days, in view of delays in generation of scrolls and disbursal of rightful claims.
CBIC had extended the due date for filing form GSTR-3B for March, 2026 by one day to 21 April, 2026. CBIC has notified new HSN codes in Tariff heading 2202 pertaining to beverages w.e.f. 1st May, 2026. GSTN has issued an advisory on IMS offline tool for taxpayers.
GSTAT has started functioning at many places and public notices have been issued to that effect. It is hoped that in due course, GSTAT shall become fully operational.
GST collection figures for the month of April, first year of FY 2026-27, have been released. Total gross GST revenue collected is Rs. 2,42,702 core, up by 8.7% on YoY basis from Rs. 2,23,265 crore in April 2025, out of which import revenue grew by 25.8% to Rs. 57,580 crore. Total refunds stood at Rs. 31,793 crore (up by 19.3% on YoY basis) out of which domestic refunds were of 19,996 crore (up by 54.6% in YoY basis). Total net GST revenue thus, was recorded at Rs. 2,10,909 crore against Rs. 1,96,618 crore in 2025, showing a modest rise of 7.3%. Being first month of new financial year, much boost in revenue collection is otherwise not a normal feature.
Substitution of HSN Codes in tariff heading 2202 (beverages)
- CBIC had amended the Notification No. 9/2025- CT(R) dated 17.09.2025 and substituted below HSN entry codes in tariff heading 2202 (beverages) under Schedule I (2.5%) and Schedule III (20%), to appropriately map the new HSN codes for various category of beverages, which are as under:
Schedule | S. No. | Earlier Description of Goods | Earlier Chapter / Heading / Sub-heading / Tariff Item | Revised Description of Goods | Substituted Chapter / Heading / Sub-heading / Tariff Item |
Schedule I (2.5%) | 150 | Fruit pulp or fruit juice based drinks | 2202 99 20 | Fruit pulp or fruit juice based drinks : Cranberry products and Others | 2202 99 21, 2202 99 29 |
Schedule I (2.5%) | 151 | Beverages containing milk | 2202 99 30 | Beverages containing milk : Cranberry products and Others | 2202 99 31, 2202 99 39 |
Schedule III (20%) | 2 | Non-alcoholic Beer and Other non-alcoholic beverages | 2202 91 00, 2202 99 90 | Other non-alcoholic beverages including Cranberry products and Others | 2202 99 90, 2202 99 91, 2202 99 99 |
Schedule III (20%) | 3 | Other non-alcoholic beverages | 2202 99 90 | Other non-alcoholic beverages: Cranberry products and Others | 2202 99 91, 2202 99 99 |
- Changes relate to the classification of specified goods under tariff heading 2202 across Schedule I (5%) and Schedule III (40%).
- Similar Notifications have been issued in IGST (Notification No. 01/2026 - Integrated Tax (Rate) dated 30.04.2026) and UTGST (Notification No. 01/2026 - Union Territory Tax (Rate) dated 30.04.2026).
- These changes shall be effective from 01.05.2026.
[Source: Notification No. 01/2026-Central Tax (Rate) dated 30.04.2026]
GST collection in April, 2026
- Gross and net GST collection in April, 2026 has recorded a modest growth on YoY basis
- Gross domestic revenue is Rs. 1,85,122 crore against Rs. 1,77,511 crore in April, 2025, showing a growth of 4.3% on YoY basis.
- IGST revenue, i.e., gross import revenue is Rs. 57,580 crore, up by 25.8% on YoY basis over April, 2025.
- Domestic refunds have grown by impressive 54.6% to Rs. 19,996 crore while import refunds have declined to Rs. 11,797 crore (-14%).
- Total net GST revenue including IGST is Rs. 2,10,909 crore, up by 7.3% over Rs. 1,96,618 crore in April, 2025.
- There is a mixed trend in revenue collection amongst various states. States like Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Meghalaya and Andaman & Nicobar are laggards. States such as Jammu & Kashmir, Arunachal, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana have shown reasonable growth in collection.