GST collection at record high of ₹1.15 lakh crore in Dec, hints at recovery

After experiencing a slump during most part of 2020, Goods and Service Tax (GST) collections touched a record high of over ₹1.15 lakh crore in December — a direct impact of strong festive demand and reflating economy.

The gross GST revenue collected in the month of December 2020 stands at ₹1,15,174 crore and is the highest since the introduction of GST on July 1, 2017, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

“The growth we experienced in December is the highest in monthly revenues for the last 21 months. The positive effect is a direct result of the combined effect of rapid economic recovery post-pandemic and the nation-wide drive against GST evaders and fake bills along with many systemic changes introduced recently,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The total number of GSTR-3B Returns filed for the month of November up to December 31, 2020 is 87 lakh.

During the month, revenues from import of goods were 27 per cent higher and the revenues from domestic transaction (including import of services) are 8 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

In line with the recent trend of recovery in the GST revenues, the mop-up in December crossed ₹1 lakh crore mark for the third month in a row and was 12 per cent higher than over ₹1.03 lakh crore collected in December 2019.

For December, the Central GST mop-up is Rs 21,365 crore, state GST is ₹27,804 crore, integrated GST is ₹57,426 crore (including ₹27,050 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is ₹8,579 crore (including ₹971 crore collected on import of goods).

The government has settled ₹23,276 crore to CGST and ₹17,681 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue earned by the Central Government and the State Governments after regular settlement in the month of December is ₹44,641 crore for CGST and ₹45,485 crore for the SGST.