The goods and services tax collection for April hit an all-time high of Rs 1.68 lakh crore, the Union Ministry of Finance said on Sunday. The collection is higher by Rs 25,000 crore from March’s Rs 1.42 lakh crore.

This is the first time that gross goods and services tax revenue has crossed the Rs 1.5 lakh crore mark.

In a statement, the ministry attributed the rise in revenue to compliance by taxpayers and recovery in business activity.

“This shows clear improvement in the compliance behaviour, which has been a result of various measures taken by the tax administration to nudge taxpayers to file returns timely, to making compliance easier and smoother and strict enforcement action taken against errant taxpayers identified based on data analytics and artificial intelligence,” said the ministry.

In April, the revenue from import of goods was 30% higher and from domestic transactions, including import of services, was 17% per cent more than the same month last year.

“Sincerely recognise and appreciate the efforts made by each and every state in improving the Goods and Services Tax revenue collection,” said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday. “India’s economic recovery is sure to be on a sustained path due to all our efforts.”