GST Collections Rebound In December After Falling To Their Lowest

The government collected Rs 86,703 crore in GST for December as on 24 January.

Collections from the Goods and Services Tax stabilised in December after falling to their lowest in November.

The government collected Rs 86,703 crore in GST for December as of 24 January, the Ministry of Finance said in a series of tweets. 

That compares with Rs 80,808 crore collected as GST in November, Rs 83,346 crore in October, Rs 92,150 crore in September, Rs 90,669 crore in August, and Rs 92,283 crore in July.

GST collections had declined in November after the GST Council cut rates on more than 200 items that month. The rebound suggests that they “have started entering the stabilisation phase and are now expected to improve in the coming months”, said MS Mani, senior director at Deloitte India. A combination of reasonable rates and easier compliance in December would also have contributed to the better mop-up, he said. “With several other measures, such as the e-Way bill lined up, the collections would only increase in future.”

For December, about 56.30 lakh GSTR-3B summarised returns were filed till 24 January, the ministry said.

One crore taxpayers have registered for GST, of which 17.11 lakh have opted for the Composition Scheme. It allows traders and manufacturers to pay one percent of their turnover as GST, and file quarterly returns.

For October-December, around Rs 421.35 crore was collected through 9.25 lakh returns filed by composition dealers. Around 8.10 lakh returns were filed by composition dealers paying a total of Rs 335.86 crore in July-September.

Since the amount collected under the composition scheme was lower than expected, the GST Council in its last meeting decided that taxpayers who opt for the scheme will have to pay tax under the reverse-charge mechanism when they buy supplies from unregistered dealers to curb evasion.

In its effort to plug tax evasion, the council also announced a nationwide rollout of e-way bills from 1 February for transporting goods worth over Rs 50,000 from one state to another.

(This article was originally published on BloombergQuint.)

(We Indians have much to talk about these days. But what would you tell India if you had the chance? Pick up the phone and write or record your Letter To India. Don’t be silent, tell her how you feel. Mail us your letter at [e-mail]. We’ll make sure India gets your message.)