GST mop-up above Rs 1 lakh cr for 2nd straight month in Nov

GST collections, which had slumped to a record low of Rs 32,172 crore in April, after the government imposed a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, has been picking up thereafter and has remained above Rs 1 lakh crore mark for two consecutive months now.

Continuing to post a year-on-year increase for the third month in a row since the slump in collection in April, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) mop-up rose 1.4 per cent to Rs 1,04,963 crore in November (for sales in October). The collections were higher than Rs 1,03,491 crore recorded in November 2019, but below Rs 1,05,155 crore in October 2020.

GST collections, which had slumped to a record low of Rs 32,172 crore in April, after the government imposed a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, has been picking up thereafter and has remained above Rs 1 lakh crore mark for two consecutive months now. Analysts, however, noted that growth in tax collection is uneven among states as many states have recorded a decline in collections.

Growth in GST collections, however, slowed down to 1.4 per cent year-on-year in November as compared to 10 per cent and 4 per cent expansion in October and September, respectively. “In line with the recent trend of recovery in the GST revenues, the revenues for the month of November 2020 are 1.4 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year. During the month, revenues from import of goods was 4.9 per cent higher and the revenues from domestic transaction (including import of services) are 0.5 per cent higher that the revenues from these sources during the same month last year,” the finance ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

“The trend of improved collections three months in a row points to stability returning in economic activities across the country and it is expected that this trend is sustainable in the coming months. However, there is a decline in collections in key states such as Maharashtra, U P, Delhi, Karnataka, Telengana which could indicate that the revival in economic activities has not been uniform across the country as Gujarat, A P, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Odisha have recorded increase in collections during the same period,” said MS Mani, senior director, Deloitte India

Of Rs 1,04,963 crore in November, Rs 19,189 crore is Central GST; Rs 25,540 crore State GST; Rs 51,992 crore Integrated GST (including Rs 22,078 crore collected on import of goods), and, Rs 8,242 crore Cess, including Rs 809 crore on import of goods, the statement said. A total of 82 lakh GSTR-3B returns were filed for the month of November up to 30th November 2020.

The government settled Rs 22,293 crore to CGST and Rs 16,286 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. After this, the total revenue earned by Centre is Rs 41,482 crore as CGST and by states is Rs 41,826 crore as SGST, the Ministry said. GST revenues have been higher than Rs 1 lakh crore in 8 out of the 12 months of 2019-20 fiscal, but collections this have been severely impacted due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic contraction thereafter. For six months, GST mop up was much below Rs 1 lakh crore mark.

“As expected, GST collection for November has also crossed Rs 1 lakh crore mark, though the increase of 1.4 per cent over November 2019 is much lower than comparative numbers for the last month. The trend continues to reinforce the belief that economy is recovering fast. Now that the festival season is over, one would have to see if December collection is also buoyant,” said Pratik Jain, partner & leader, Indirect Tax, PwC India.

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