GST Collections Hit Record High Of Over Rs 1.15 Lakh Crore In December 2020: Finance Ministry

The gross goods and services tax (GST) revenue collected in the month of December 2020 was Rs 1,15,174 crore of which CGST was Rs 21,365 crore, SGST was ₹ 27,804 crore, IGST was ₹ 57,426 crore (including ₹ 27,050 crore collected on import of goods) and cess was ₹ 8,579 crore (including ₹ 971 crore collected on goods imports). The total number of GSTR-3B Returns filed for November up to December 31, 2020, was 87 lakhs.

The government settled ₹ 23,276 crore to CGST and ₹ 17,681 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue earned by the Union government and the state governments after regular settlement in the month of December 2020 was Rs 44,641 crore for CGST and Rs 45,485 crore for the SGST.

In line with the recent trend of recovery in the GST revenues, the revenues for December 2020 was 12 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year. During the month, revenues from import of goods was 27 per cent higher and the revenues from domestic transaction (including import of services) were 8 per cent higher that the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

The GST revenues during December 2020 have been the highest since the introduction of GST and it is the first time that it crossed Rs 1.15 lakh crore. The highest GST collection to date was Rs 1,13,866 crore in April 2019. The revenues of April normally tend to be high since they pertain to the returns of March, which marks the end of financial year. The December 2020 revenues are significantly higher than last month's revenues of Rs 1,04.963 crore. This is the highest growth in monthly revenues since last 21 months. This has been due to combined effect of the rapid economic recovery post pandemic and the nation-wide drive against GST evaders and fake bills along with many systemic changes introduced recently, which have led to improved compliance.

Until now, GST revenues have crossed ₹ 1.1 lakh crore three times since the introduction of GST. This is the third month in a row in the current financial year after the economy has been showing signs or recovery post pandemic that the GST revenues have been more than Rs 1 lakh crore. The average growth in GST revenues during the last quarter has been 7.3 per cent as compared to -8.2 per cent during the second quarter and -41.0 per cent during the first quarter of the financial year.