Gross GST collections for November stand at over Rs 1.70 lakh crore
Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in November (for sales in October) stayed flat at Rs 1.70 lakh crore as against Rs 1.69 lakh crore last year.
This comes after the sweeping rate cuts for over 375 items under GST 2.0 that became effective September 22.
Including compensation cess, which was earlier counted as part of gross GST mop-up, the gross collections were down 4.0 per cent at Rs 1.75 lakh crore in November.
Overall, GST collections, after refunds and excluding cess, stood at Rs 1.52 lakh crore in November as against Rs 1.50 lakh crore, up 1.3 per cent from last year. Including cess, net GST mop-up was Rs 1.56 lakh crore in November, down 4.2 per cent from last year.
Government officials said that they are optimistic about the consumption uplift seen after GST 2.0, with the taxable value of all supplies under GST having grown by 15 per cent during the two-month period of September-October versus 8.6 per cent growth in the same period last year. “This surge in taxable value demonstrates strong consumption uplift, stimulated by reduced rates and improved compliance behaviour,” an official said, adding that reducing tax on essentials and mass-use items would create a Laffer Curve-type demand uplift. As per the Laffer curve, revenues increase as tax rates rise till a certain point, but then increasing the tax rates beyond that point leads to a fall in government tax revenues.