Second time in a row, Government's GST kitty crosses Rs 1 lakh crores in December

New Delhi : Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection surpassed Rs 1 Lakh crores again in December collection. At Rs 1.03 lakh crore, the number marked a 9% year-on-year growth on the back of increased consumption and better compliance. 

This has happened for the second time in a row after the revenues had fallen below the 1 lakh crore mark 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 recovery in the collection can be seen as a positive sign, and an indication that the government will be able to collect about Rs 3.5 lakh crore in the remaining months of current financial year.

"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, without resorting to overreach, to achieve the target," Hindustan Times quoted a person aware of the matter.

Out of the gross GST revenue of Rs 1.03 lakh crore in December, the Central GST component is Rs 19,962 crore, state GST is Rs 26,792 crore, IGST is Rs 48,099 crore and cess is Rs 8,331 crore, the finance ministry said in a statement.

"During this month, the IGST on import of goods has seen a negative growth of (-) 10%, but (this) is an improvement over (-) 13% last month and (-) 20% in the month of October," it added.