New Delhi: In what appears to be a sign of reflation after a strict lockdown, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections posted growth for the third month in a row in November over the previous year collections. The collections of tax on the sale of goods and rendering of services came in at Rs 1,04,963 crore in November, the finance ministry said in a statement.

The collections were higher than Rs 1.03 lakh crore recorded in November 2019 but were Rs 192 crore lower than October 2020 collections. GST collections, which directly reflect the state of economic activity, had plummeted to a record low of Rs 32,172 crore in April after the government imposed a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus. The collections witnessed the first year-on-year growth in September and last month, it crossed the psychological Rs 1 lakh crore-mark. November is the second straight month when GST revenues have topped Rs 1 lakh crore. One lakh crore is one trillion.

The year-on-year growth in GST collections in November stood at 1.4 per cent while in October and September, it was at 10 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively. “In line with the recent trend of recovery in the GST revenues, the revenues for the month of November 2020 are 1.4 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year. During the month, revenue from import of goods was 4.9 per cent higher and the revenues from domestic transaction including import of services are 0.5 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year,” the ministry said in the statement.

The gross GST revenues collected in the month of November 2020 were Rs 1,04,963 crore, out of which central GST was Rs 19,189 crore and state GST was Rs 25,540 crore. IGST was Rs 51,992 crore, including Rs 22,078 crore collected on import of goods, and cess was Rs 8,242 crore, including Rs 809 crore collected on import of goods, the statement said. Last week, sources in the finance ministry said that GST officers have identified top 25,000 taxpayers who had filed GST returns in October but have not done so for November. Till November 28, 80 lakh GST returns were filed for that month.

As per GST rules, for the supplies made in the month of October, the GSTR-3B returns were expected to be filed in a staggered manner by 20th, 22nd and 24th of November. Those having a turnover above Rs 5 crore annually are expected to file their GSTR-3B by 20th of the month.    GST revenues had topped Rs 1 lakh crore in 8 out of the 12 months of 2019-20 fiscal. However, in the current fiscal, the revenues have taken a hit due to COVID-19 lockdown and consequent slowdown in economy. /BI/