GST collections shoot past ₹1 lakh cr in Oct, first time since Feb 2020

GST collections in October stood at over ₹1.05 lakh crore, crossing for the first time the ₹1-lakh-crore mark since February this year, the finance ministry said on Sunday.

The total number of GSTR-3B returns filed till October 31, 2020, is 80 lakh.

The gross GST revenue collected in the month of October 2020 is ₹1,05,155 crore of which CGST is ₹19,193 crore, SGST is ₹5,411 crore, IGST is ₹52,540 crore (including ₹23,375 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is ₹8,011 crore (including ₹932 crore collected on import of goods), the ministry said in a statement.

The revenue for the month is 10% higher than ₹95,379 crore collected in the same month last year.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections fell from the psychologically important ₹1 lakh crore mark as the lockdown imposed to contain the COVID-19 spread dented economic activity.

During the month, revenues from import of goods was 9% higher and the revenues from domestic transaction (including import of services) are11% higher that the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

Arunachal Pradesh recorded the highest growth among states at about 138% followed by Mizoram at 118% growth in comparison to same month last year.

Rest of the states and UTs reported less than 26% growth, and six reported negative growth – Chandigarh, Sikkim, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Delhi.

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Delhi reported about 8% downfall in GST revenues while heavily industrialised states like Maharashtra (5%) and Karnataka (5%) recorded single digit growth.

Experts attributed the surge to the festive season, but cautioned that a revival from the COVID downturn could be confirmed only after the November figures show similar growth.