GST collection hits five-month high at Rs 1.17 lakh in Sept, revenues 23% higher than last year

New Delhi: India’s GST collection remained above Rs 1 lakh crore for the third month in a row at over Rs 1.17 lakh crore in September, raising expectations that second half of the year will post higher revenues. The tax collections in September on goods sold and services rendered were 23 percent higher than Rs 95,480 crore collected in September 2020, and 27 percent higher than Rs 91,916 crore collected in September 2019. The collection in September is the highest in five months since April, when revenue was at record high of Rs 1.41 lakh crore. Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in August and July was Rs 1.12 lakh crore and Rs 1.16 lakh crore respectively. “The gross GST revenue collected in the month of September 2021 is Rs 1,17,010 crore of which Central GST is Rs 20,578 crore, State GST is Rs 26,767 crore, Integrated GST is Rs 60,911 crore (including Rs 29,555 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is Rs 8,754 crore (including Rs 623 crore collected on import of goods),” the finance ministry said in a statement. During September, revenues from import of goods were 30 percent higher and the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) were 20 percent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year. The average monthly gross GST collection for the second (July-September) quarter of the current year has been Rs 1.15 lakh crore, which is 5 per cent higher than the average monthly collection of Rs 1.10 lakh crore in the first quarter of the year. “This clearly indicates that the economy is recovering at a fast pace. Coupled with economic growth, anti-evasion activities, especially action against fake billers have also been contributing to the enhanced GST collections. It is expected that the positive trend in the revenues will continue and the second half of the year will post higher revenues,” it added. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co Partner Rajat Bose said the buoyancy in GST collection is a good indicator of economic recovery. “As the festive season starts, GST collections should also see a rise in the near future,” Bose added. The Centre has also released GST compensation of Rs 22,000 crore to States to meet their GST revenue gap, the ministry added. ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said the release of GST compensation cess of Rs 22,000 crore will benefit the states’ cash flow situation, allowing accelerated spending in December quarter, complementing the expected boost to central government spending. Deloitte India Senior Director MS Mani said the GST collection figures indicate that growth of the economy is leading to stable collections, which would help in achieving the fiscal deficit target of 6.8 per cent of GDP. “Most of the key manufacturing states reporting a growth of 20 percent plus compared to last year does indicate that an economic revival is clearly in progress across key states,” Mani added. Mani further said the significant increase in GST collections both from import and domestic transactions compared to the same period last year and the marked increase in the collections in key states indicates an acceleration in business activities.