GST collection hits all-time high of Rs 1,15,174 crore in December 2020

New Delhi, January 1, 2021

Gross revenue collection of Goods and Service Tax (GST) touched its highest ever level of Rs 1,15,174 crore in December 2020 since the implementation of the tax, the Ministry of Finance said here today.

Of the gross GST revenue collected in the month, Central GST (CGST) was Rs 21,365 crore, State GST (SGST) Rs 27,804 crore, Integrated GST (IGST) Rs 57,426 crore (including Rs 27,050 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess Rs 8,579 crore (including Rs 971 crore collected on import of goods).

The total number of GSTR-3B Returns filed for the month of November up to December 31 was 87 lakhs, an official press release said.

The government has settled Rs 23,276 crore to CGST and Rs 17,681 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue earned by Central 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 the month of December were 12% higher than the GST revenues in the same month in the previous year, the release said.

During the month, revenue from import of goods was 27% higher and the revenue from domestic transaction (including import of services) 8% higher than the revenue from these sources during the same month in the previous year.

This is the first time that GST revenues have crossed Rs 1.15 lakh crore. The previous high of GST collection 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 the financial year. The December 2020 revenues were significantly higher than the previous month’s revenues of Rs 1,04.963 crore. This was the highest growth in monthly revenues since the last 21 months. This has been due to the 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," the release said.

According to the release, GST revenues had, till now, crossed Rs 1.1 lakh crore thrice since the introduction of GST.

This was the third month in a row in the current financial year, after the economy started showing signs of 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% as compared to (-) 8.2% during the second quarter and (-) 41.0% during the first quarter of the financial year.

NNN