New year has dawned with a bright spark on the economy front—GST collections in December have hit an all-time highest record at Rs 1.15 lakh crore.
The GST receipt last month is the highest since the introduction of GST back in 2017. This is the first time that it has crossed Rs 1.15 lakh crore. The highest GST collection till now was Rs 1.13 lakh crore in the month of April 2019, however, GST in April usually tends to be high since these pertain to the returns of March, which marks the end of the financial year.
Revenue in November was Rs 1.04 lakh crore, making December’s the highest monthly growth in almost two years. December’s GST inflow is 12 per cent higher than that of the same month the previous year.
Not just that, even more morale boosting has been the trend of recovery over the past few months, and the fact that the rise has stayed even after the festive shopping month. This is the third month in a row post pandemic that the GST revenues have been more than Rs 1 lakh crore.
Of the total Rs 1.15 lakh crore, central GST is Rs 21,365 crore, state GST Rs 27,804 crore, integrated GST Rs 57,426 crore (including Rs 27,050 crore collected on import of goods) and cess at 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 1, 2020 is 87 lakh.
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The total revenue earned by the Centre and state governments after regular settlement for the month will be Rs 44,641 crore for the former and Rs 45,485 crore for the latter. During the month, revenues from import of goods was 27 per cent higher and the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) 8 per cent higher than the revenue from these sources during the same month last year.
“This has been due to the combined effect of the rapid economic recovery post pandemic and the nationwide drive against GST evaders and fake bills along with many systemic changes introduced recently, which have led to improved compliance,” according to a finance ministry note.