Oct GST Receipts Cross ₹1 Lakh Cr For First Time Post Lock Down

Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections crossed ₹1 lakh crore in October, for the first time in eight months, indicating signs of a revival of the economy.

October collections are for transactions in September. Data released by the finance ministry on GST collection supports claims economists made about the economy's revival after the lockdown was eased in September.

According to government officials, the center's tax collections have picked up, and high-frequency activity indicators continue to improve on the back of the government's targeted COVID-19 stimulus. E-way bills needed for transportation of goods is back to pre-COVID levels, and online payments have risen exponentially.

"The (tax collection) trend shows that it did decline for the past few months, but it is not only on the path of recovery but is also picking up. In September, GST collection was 4 per cent higher than the corresponding period last year," Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey told wires.

At ₹1.05 lakh crore, GST collection was ten per cent higher against ₹95,379 crore a year ago. It was ₹211 crore higher than in February — before the lockdown was announced.

All collections — central GST (CGST), State GST (SGST), integrated GST (IGST), or compensation cess — were higher in October than in September.

CGST yielded ₹19,193 crore in October against ₹ 17,741 crore in September. Collection under SGST was ₹25,411 crore against ₹23,131 crore during the period. IGST collection was ₹52,540 crore against ₹47,484 crore. Of this, ₹23,375 crore was collected through imports against ₹22,442 crore in September.

Compensation cess receipts rose to ₹8,011 crore against ₹ 7,124 crore. Of this, ₹ 932 crore was collected from imports against ₹ 788 crore in September.

The total number of GSTR-3B Returns filed during October was 8 million, the finance ministry said.

The government settled ₹ 25,091 crore to CGST and ₹ 19,427 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlements. Centre and states' total revenue after regular settlement in October was ₹ 44,285 crore for CGST and ₹ 44,839 crore for SGST.

During the month, revenue from imports, including imports of services, was 9 per cent higher, while those from the domestic market was 11 percent higher than the previous corresponding period.

In July, August and September, GST revenues were negative 14 per cent, 8 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively.