GST collections rise to highest level since lockdown at Rs 95,480 cr in Sep

The government on March 25 had imposed the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus infections, and started easing restrictions in late May. PwC India Leader (Indirect Tax) Pratik Jain said with the festive season coming in, though muted, one would hope that collections would improve further.

GST collections rose to Rs 95,480 crore in September - the highest level since the lockdown - in signs of a revival of economic activity and demand returning from the lifting of restrictions. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections were almost 4 per cent more than the September 2019 collection of Rs 91,916 crore and nearly triple of April 2020 mop-up. Also, it is 10 per cent higher over August 2020 collection.

The Finance Ministry in a statement said the gross GST revenue collected in September 2020 is Rs 95,480 crore, out of which Central GST is Rs 17,741 crore, State GST is Rs 23,131 crore, Integrated GST is Rs 47,484 crore (including Rs 22,442 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 7,124 crore (including Rs 788 crore collected on import of goods). In September 2020, the tax collections from import of goods and domestic transaction were 102 per cent and 105 per cent, respectively, of the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

The GST revenue in April was Rs 32,172 crore, May (Rs 62,151 crore), June (Rs 90,917 crore), July (Rs 87,422 crore), August (Rs 86,449 crore). The government on March 25 had imposed the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus infections, and started easing restrictions in late May.

PwC India Leader (Indirect Tax) Pratik Jain said with the festive season coming in, though muted, one would hope that collections would improve further. Measures such as e-invoicing should also help plug the tax leakage, he added.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co Partner Rajat Bose said: "The increase in the collection is an encouraging sign for the economy. It is expected that the revenue collection should continue to improve as we approach the festive season". Deloitte India Senior Director M S Mani said a modest increase of 4 per cent in the GST collections compared to the previous year indicates that the economic recovery process is underway, with some key large states also reporting increased collections.

"If the present trends of GST collections continue, we should be hopeful of significant increases in the coming months based on the unlockdown steps taken in various states and the festival season ahead," Mani added. EY Tax Partner Abhishek Jain said with a significant part of the economy resuming operations and international trade gathering pace, the collections have shown decent growth.

"The increased revenues indicate reinstatement of normalcy in business operations and provides an in general optimistic outlook," Jain added..