The Centre collected a gross Goods and Services Tax revenue of Rs 1,03,184 crore in December last year, the Union Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. Of this, CGST was Rs 19,962 crore, state GST was Rs 26,792 crore, integrated GST was Rs 48,099 crore and Cess Rs 8,331 crore.
The gross GST revenue for December showed a growth of 16% from its December 2018 figure, the ministry said in a press release. “If we consider IGST collected from imports, the total revenue during December, 2019 has increased by 9% in comparison to the revenue during December, 2018,” the ministry said. “During this month, the IGST on import of goods has seen a negative growth of (-) 10%, but is an improvement over (-) 13% last month and (-) 20% in the month of October.”
While Arunachal Pradesh showed the highest rate of growth of gross GST in December at 124%, GST collection in Lakshadweep fell by 78% and in Jharkhand by 3%, the press release said.
The November and December figures show a recovery in GST collections, which had fallen for three months in a row – August, September and October 2019. The September collection was Rs 91,916 crore, the lowest since February 2018, the Hindustan Times reported. In November 2019, the GST collections were at Rs 1,03,492 crore.
It may now be possible to achieve the target of collecting about Rs 3.5 lakh crore in gross GST in the remaining months of the 2019-’20 financial year – January, February and March, Hindustan Times reported quoting unidentified officials. “A national conference of all stakeholders, including the income-tax department and other administrative agencies, field formation of revenue officials at the Centre and states is scheduled to take place on January 7 to chalk out strategies and further improve compliance,” one of the persons said.
On December 7 last year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Centre could not pay pending compensation to states under the Goods and Services Tax regime because the collection was not adequate. However, she assured that the government’s compact with the states will be honoured.
On December 16, the Centre released Rs 35,298 crore for states and Union Territories as compensation for the GST framework, just two days before the GST Council meeting.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!