GST collection in June stands at Rs 90,917 crores, shows signs of return to pre-Covid level

The total GST collected during the month of June was Rs 90,917crore, which is more than 96% of the GST collected during the preceding two months. Due to stringent lockdown measures, the GST Collection during the period of April and May fell sharply to Rs 32,294 crores and Rs 62,009 crores respectively.

New Delhi: In a sign of improvement in the business activity in the month of June, the gross GST revenue collection crossed the mark of Rs 90,000 crore for the first time this year.

The total GST collected during the month of June was Rs 90,917 crore, which is more than 96% of the GST collected during the preceding two months. Due to stringent lockdown measures, the GST Collection during the period of April and May fell sharply to Rs 32,294 crores and Rs 62,009 crores respectively.

Month	GST Collection
April	Rs 32,294 crores
May	Rs 62,009 crores
June	Rs 90,917 crore

While the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) collection in June was Rs 18,980 crores, States Goods and Services Tax (SGST) collection was Rs 23,970 crores, and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) collection was Rs 40,302 crores.

The IGST collection also includes Rs 15,709 crore collected on import of goods. The Cess collection in the month of June 2020 accounts for Rs 7,665 crore, which also includes the Cess of Rs 607 crore collected on import of goods.

Although, the GST collection in the month of June seem to be returning to pre-Covid level but it is still lower by 9% compared to the gross GST collection during the same month last year.

However, it has rebound in comparison with the GST collected during the month of April and May which suffered a huge loss.

According to the latest official data, in April 2019, GST collection was Rs 113,866 crores which declined to Rs just Rs 32,294 crores in April 2020, a decline of nearly 72%.

Similarly, the GST collection in May 2019 was Rs 100,289 crores, which declined to Rs 62,009 crores in May 2020, a decline of over 38% over the GST collected during the same month last year.

During the month of June, the revenue collection from import of goods came down by 29% and the revenue from domestic transactions (including import of services) came down by 3%.

“Since the Union Government has allowed a relaxed time schedule for filing of GST returns, the returns for the month of April, March and some returns for the month of February have been filed during June 2020,” said an official.

First Quarter GST Collection declines by 41%

The GST collection during the first quarter of the last fiscal was Rs 314,095 crores, which declined by 41% in the first quarter (April-June period) of this fiscal.

It is a decline of Rs 1,28,875 crores in comparison with the GST collected during the same quarter of the last fiscal.

According to the official sources, the gross GST collection for the first quarter is expected to improve marginally.

A person familiar with the matter said some returns for the month of May 2020 are yet to be filed due to relaxation in the compliance deadlines.

These returns for the month of May 2020, which were supposed to be filed in June, are expected to be filed during the first few days of July.

(Article by Krishnanand Tripathi)