GST Revenue Hits New All-Time High In December

Goods and Service Tax (GST) collections cross Rs 1.15 lakh crore for the first time ever in the month of December, a finance ministry statement said on 1 January.

The gross GST revenue collected in the month of December 2020 is Rs 1,15,174 crore of which CGST is Rs 21,365 crore, SGST is Rs 27,804 crore, IGST is Rs 57,426 crore (including Rs 27,050 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is 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 31 December 2020 is Rs 87 lakhs.

The previous record for the highest collection was Rs 1.14 lakh crore, recorded 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 are significantly higher than last month's revenues of Rs 1,04.963 crore. This is the highest growth in monthly revenues for the last 21 months," the ministry's statement said.

"This has been due to 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 statement added.

This is the third month in a row in the current financial year after the economy has been showing signs or recovery post-pandemic that the GST revenues have been more than Rs 1 lakh crore.