GST Collections Fall To Rs 91,916 cr, Lowest In 19 Months

Revenue collection under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) fell sharply to Rs 91,916 crore in September, the lowest since February last year. It is also the first time this fiscal that collections have been lower than the corresponding period of last year. Last year in September, gross GST collections were worth Rs 94,442 crore.

The collections are also down by Rs 6,286 crore compared to August when they stood at Rs 98,202 crore. It is the second straight month when collections have failed to cross the psychological mark of Rs 1 lakh crore.

Subdued GST collections have been a cause of concern for the government, which is facing loss of revenue on direct tax collections as well, after the cut in the Corporate Tax rate. 

According to figures shared by the government on Tuesday, the total gross GST revenue collected in September, for transactions made in August, stood at Rs 91,916 crore of which Central GST (CGST) was Rs 16,630 crore, State GST (SGST) was Rs 22,598 crore, Integrate GST (IGST) was Rs 45,069 crore and cess was Rs 7,620 crore. 

Interestingly, even as the tax collection fell in September, the number of GSTR 3B returns filed in the month (for August) increased from 75.8 lakh to 75.94 lakh.

The government said that it had settled Rs 21,131 crore to CGST and Rs 15,121 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. 

“The total revenue earned by the central and the state governments after regular settlement in the month of September is Rs 37,761 crore for CGST and Rs 37,719 crore for the SGST,” it said.

It added that during April-September, the domestic component in the GST grew by 7.82 per cent while GST on imports declined.