The government's goods and services tax collection rose to the highest in eight months, crossing the Rs 1 lakh crore mark, as the consumption in the economy picked up ahead of the festive season after India lifted lockdown restrictions.
GST revenue for September, collected in October, stood at Rs 1.05 lakh crore, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance. That was 10% higher than last month and September 2019.
The growth in tax collected shows “the trajectory of recovery of the economy”, said the statement.
Breakup of GST collections for August
- Central GST: Rs 19,193 crore
- State GST: Rs 25,411 crore
- Integrated GST: Rs 52,540 crore
- Compensation cess: Rs 8,011 crore
Integrated GST is settled between states and the central government based on consumption in respective states. After the settlement, central and state GST stood at Rs 44,285 crore and Rs 44,839 crore, respectively. Total monthly GSTR-3B returns filed for September, as on Oct. 31, were 80 lakh, the statement said.
The reason for the surge in revenue is increased demand ahead of the festive season, said Abhishek Jain, a partner at EY India. Besides festive sales, the reconciliation or adjustments to input tax credit are required to be made by businesses in September, he said, adding that this too would have contributed towards better revenues.
Adjustments to input tax credit claimed in the last fiscal are to be made in GST returns for September which generally leads to reversal of higher credit claimed earlier, in turn increasing the mop up for the government.
However, Rajat Mohan, a partner at AMRG & Associates, said the increase in revenue should be attributed only to festive shopping, and this trend may not sustain longer. “GST collections may soon decline to follow its previous trend, and remain much below this peak,” Mohan said.
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