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GST Collection Crosses Rs 1.30 Lakh Crore, Second-Highest Since Rollout

GST revenue for September, collected in October, stood at Rs 1,30,127 crore.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>An Indian 50 rupee, left, and 2000 rupee banknotes. (Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg)</p></div>
An Indian 50 rupee, left, and 2000 rupee banknotes. (Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg)

The government’s goods and services tax revenue collection jumped to the highest since March, and stayed above Rs 1 lakh crore for the fourth straight month.

GST revenue for September, collected in October, stood at Rs 1,30,127 crore, according to a finance ministry statement. That’s 24% higher than in October 2020 and 36% over October 2019.

Break-up of GST collections

  • Central GST: Rs 23,861 crore.

  • State GST: Rs 30,421 crore.

  • Integrated GST: Rs 67,361 crore (includes Rs 32,998 crore collected on import of goods).

  • Cess: Rs 8,484 crore (includes Rs 699 crore collected on import of goods).

“The GST revenue has been the second-highest ever since its introduction, second only to that in April 2021 (for March), which related to year-end revenues,” the statement said. “This is very much in line with the trend in economic recovery.”

While revenue from import of goods was 39% higher than the year-ago period, that from domestic transaction (including import of services) was 19% higher. “The revenue would have still been higher if the sales of cars and other products had not been affected on account of disruption in supply of semi-conductors,” said the statement.

The six-month high GST collections of October 2021 are a reflection of the healthy pickup in GST e-way bills in September 2021, led by pre-festive season stocking, as well as improved compliance, said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ICRA Ltd. in an emailed comment.

With the October 2021 GST e-way bills expected to exceed the level seen in the previous month, the headline GST collections are slated to remain healthy in a range of Rs. 1.25 - 1.35 lakh crore in November 2021. Overall, we expect the CGST collections to exceed the GoI's FY2022 BE of Rs. 5.3 lakh crore by up to Rs. 50,000 crore.
Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRA

The ministry listed various steps taken to enhance compliance and tax filing as one important contributor to the increased revenue in teh past several months.

GSTR-3B (monthly/quarterly summary) return filings have risen from 73% in January and a low of 31% in April to 85% in September. GSTR 1 (containing details of invoices) filings have also risen from 61% in January to 81% in September.

Among states, Jammu and Kashmir, and Lakshadweep recorded the highest year-on-year growth in GST revenue collection in October albeit on very small bases. But states with the highest revenue collections, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Gujarat also witnessed double digit growth over October 2020.

Maharashtra

Oct. 2020: Rs 15,799 crore

Oct. 2021: Rs 19,355 crore (up 23%)

Tamil Nadu

Oct. 2020: Rs 6,901 crore

Oct. 2021: Rs 7,642 crore (up 11%)

Karnataka

Oct. 2020: Rs 6,998 crore

Oct. 2021: Rs 8,259 crore (up 18%)

Gujarat

Oct. 2020: Rs 6,787 crore

Oct. 2021: Rs 8,497 crore (up 25%)