Signalling Revival: Gross GST collections for November at ₹1.05-lakh crore

Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections surpassed the ₹1-lakh crore mark for the second month in a row to touch ₹1,04,963 crore in November, reflecting a clear economic recovery after the coronavirus-induced lockdown wreaked havoc on a slowing economy since end-March this year.

The latest reading is, however, slightly lower than the overall GST collection level of ₹1,05,155 crore recorded in October.

For the month under review, CGST collection was ₹19,189 crore, SGST ₹ 25,540 crore, IGST ₹ 51,992 crore (including ₹ 22,078 crore collected on import of goods) and cess ₹ 8,242 crore (including ₹ 809 crore collected on import of goods). The total number of GSTR-3B Returns filed for the month (up to November 30, 2020) stood at 82 lakh, an official release said.

The government has settled ₹22,293 crore to the CGST and ₹16,286 crore to the SGST from the IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue earned by the Central and State governments after regular settlement in November was ₹ 41,482 crore for the CGST and ₹41,826 crore for the SGST.

In line with the recent trend of recovery, revenue for the month of November 2020 was 1.4 per cent higher than in the same month last year. During the month, revenue from the import of goods was 4.9 per cent higher and revenue from domestic transactions (including import of services) 0.5 per cent higher that the revenue from these sources during the same month last year, the release added.

Growth moderation

Abhishek Jain, Tax Partner, EY, said: “The second straight month of ₹1-lakh-crore-plus collection is certainly indicative of continued economic recovery, and the collections being slightly more than the same month last year is quite encouraging. This should also help in containing the shortfall of GST collections caused due to the pandemic.”

Aditi Nayar, Principal Economist, ICRA, said the average pace of growth in GST collections in October-November 2020 stood at a moderately healthy 6 per cent. The trends regarding the sustainability of demand will be clearer with the data on December GST collections, she said.

“In our view, the sharp moderation in growth in the generation of GST e-way bills in November 2020, relative to the previous month, signals the impact of the change in working days related to the shift in the festive calendar. Nevertheless, the average growth of GST e-way bills in October-November surpassed that for September, which is encouraging,” Nayar said.