This is an archive article published on March 2, 2021
GST mop-up rises 7.4% in Feb; tops Rs 1 lakh crore for 5th straight month
The Finance Ministry said the GST revenues crossed Rs 1.1 lakh crore for third time in a row post-pandemic. “This is a clear indication of the economic recovery and the impact of various measures taken by tax administration to improve compliance,” it said.
The Deputy CM added that in the last two and a half years, the government has brought in more transparency by putting more emphasis on digitisation and maintaining online records. He said that the prototype of GST-PV app is saving time and money in tax collection.
Goods and services tax (GST) collections in February (for sales in January) rose 7.4 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,13,147 crore. Though lower than Rs 1,19,875 crore collected the previous month, the February mop-up is the fifth consecutive month of GST collections breaching the Rs 1-lakh-crore mark, in a sign of pickup in economic activity along with compliance measures and action against tax evaders making use of data analytics by the GST authorities.
The Finance Ministry said the GST revenues crossed Rs 1.1 lakh crore for third time in a row post-pandemic. “This is a clear indication of the economic recovery and the impact of various measures taken by tax administration to improve compliance,” it said.
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GST collections had plummeted to a record low of Rs 32,172 crore in April, following the lockdown in the wake of Covid-19.
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Sign of economic recovery
Indirect tax collections have risen on the back of anti-evasion action and compliance measures. The healthy mop-up in February also bodes well for the wider recovery in economic activity, as this is the third consecutive month in the post-pandemic era that collections have crossed the Rs 1.1-lakh-crore mark.
Of the Rs 1,13,143 crore GST revenues in February, Central GST (CGST) is Rs 21,092 crore, State GST (SGST) is Rs 27,273 crore, Integrated GST (IGST) is Rs 55,253 crore (including Rs 24,382 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is Rs 9,525 crore (including Rs 660 crore collected on import of goods), the statement said. The Centre did not provide the number of GSTR-3B summary returns filed in February, which had stood at 90 lakh in January. Also, there is no breakup for the revenue accruing from economic activity and anti-evasion measures.
The government settled Rs 22,398 crore to CGST and Rs 17,534 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. After this, the total revenue earned by the Centre is Rs 67,490 crore as CGST and by states is Rs 68,807 crore as SGST, the Finance Ministry said.
The Deputy CM added that in the last two and a half years, the government has brought in more transparency by putting more emphasis on digitisation and maintaining online records. He said that the prototype of GST-PV app is saving time and money in tax collection. 
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