GST collection crosses Rs 1 lakh cr-mark in February; gross revenue up 8% at Rs 1.05 lakh cr

New Delhi: The government on Sunday said it has collected Rs 1.05 lakh crore as GST revenue in February, up 8 percent over the same month last year. The collection from Goods and Services Tax (GST) in February was, however, lower than the Rs 1.10 lakh crore collected in January 2020. “The gross GST revenue collected in the month of February, 2020 is Rs 1,05,366 crore of which CGST is Rs 20,569 crore, SGST is Rs 27,348 crore, IGST is Rs 48,503 crore and Cess is Rs 8,947 crore,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

CNBC-TV18 Newsbreak Confirmed | The gross GST revenue collected in the month of February, 2020 is Rs 1.05 lakh crore#Breaking #GST @TimsyJaipuria @FinMinIndia pic.twitter.com/th3ztO8Rby

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 1, 2020

The total number of GSTR 3B returns filed for the month of January up to February 29 stood at 83 lakh – same as last month. The government has settled Rs 22,586 crore to CGST and Rs 16,553 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. [caption id=“attachment_4799391” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. News18.[/caption] “The total revenue earned by Central Government and the State Governments after regular settlement in the month of February, 2020 is Rs 43,155 crore for CGST and Rs 43,901 crore for the SGST,” the statement added. The GST revenues during the month of February from domestic transactions have shown a growth of 12 percent over the same month last year. “Taking into account the GST collected from import of goods, the total revenue during February, 2020 has increased by 8 percent in comparison to the revenue during February, 2019,” the statement said. During this month, the GST on import of goods has shown a negative growth of (-) 2 percent as compared to February 2019, it added. Meanwhile, Deloitte India Partner MS Mani said with the monthly collections now stabilising at over Rs 1 trillion per month, the GST authorities would now go all out to enhance the March collections so that the deficit is reduced to the extent possible. “These numbers indicate that the GST collections are becoming stable, with new changes like e-invoicing and new returns slated for next month, more stability is expected in future,” he said. EY Tax Partner Abhishek Jain said one possible significant reason linked to reasonable collections is the differential liabilities discharged by businesses in reference to the observations in GST Annual returns and audit for FY 2017-18, which was due in January 2020. PwC India Partner & Leader Indirect Tax Pratik Jain said while the GST collection again looks impressive considering the overall economic scenario, one will have to see how much of it is due to restriction and blockage of input credits which has been happening in the last three months or so. “The issue of blockage of input credit from the backend (on account of the alleged difference between credit claimed and that disclosed by vendors) is becoming a concern for the industry and the GST Council should look into this. Otherwise, we may see lower collections later, when the credit is actually utilized,” Jain added.