GST collection in Oct crosses Rs 1 lakh cr, first time in 8 months

The goods and services tax (GST) collected in October rose to Rs 1.05 lakh crore, crossing the Rs 1 lakh crore mark for the first time since February this year, reflecting a pick-up in economic activity and demand. The finance ministry in a statement said on Sunday that the total number of GSTR-3B returns filed till October 31, 2020 is 80 lakh.

The gross GST revenue collected in October 2020 is Rs 1,05,155 crore, of which CGST is Rs 19,193 crore, SGST is Rs 5,411 crore, IGST is Rs 52,540 crore (including Rs 23,375 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 8,011 crore (including Rs 932 crore collected on import of goods), the ministry said. The revenues for the month are 10 per cent higher than Rs 95,379 crore collected in the same month last year. The GST collections fell from the psychologically important Rs 1 lakh crore mark as the lockdown imposed to contain the COVID-19 spread dented economic activity.

"The (tax collection) trend shows that it did decline for the past few months but it is not only on the path of recovery but is also picking up. In the month of September, GST collection was 4 per cent higher than what was there in the corresponding period last year. In the month of October, it has risen by 10 per cent year on year with a collection of above Rs 1.05 lakh crore," Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey told PTI. GST revenue in February was Rs 1.05 lakh crore, March Rs 97,597 crore, April Rs 32,172 crore, May Rs 62,151 crore, June Rs 90,917 crore, July Rs 87,422 crore, August Rs 86,449 crore and September Rs 95,480 crore. GST revenue had topped Rs 1 lakh crore in 8 out of 12 months of 2019-20 fiscal.

Deloitte Senior Director M S Mani said the numbers indicate the definitive revival of consumption and festival spends across the economy. "Continuance of this trend will help in narrowing the fiscal deficit for FY21 and will go a long way in reviving business confidence across sectors as the impact of the unlockdown process across states gets translated into GST collection figures," Mani said. PwC India Partner and Leader Pratik Jain said given the surge in number of returns filed and the fact that there is clear uptake in demand due to revival of economy as well as upcoming festive season, it's not surprising that collection in October has exceeded Rs 1 lakh crore. "Given the festivities, collections in November could also be robust. We would need to see if this trend continues after November as well," Jain added. EY Tax Partner Abhishek Jain said that some potential reasons for this surge could be the splurged demand on account of the festivities and input tax credit/other similar reconciliations which were due for businesses in September.