(FE)
Goods and services tax (GST) collections in October — concerning mostly September transactions — came in at Rs 95,380 crore, 5.29% lower than in the year-ago month, amplifying concerns over a likely big deficit in revenue from this comprehensive indirect tax and cementing the notion that economic slowdown is barely being reversed.
The September GST collections were just Rs 91,916 crore, a 19-month low, and these were 2.7% lower than the year-ago month. There was only one more occasion since GST’s April 2017 launch the collection for any month declined from the year-ago month — in August 2018. The low October GST mop-up was despite the fact that as the month that follows the middle point of the fiscal, October is believed to be a high-revenue month for the government, rivalled only by April, that follows the end of fiscal year. Collections in October 2018 was Rs 1,00,710 crore and there were only six more months when the overall GST revenue crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore threshold. Worse, the GST on imports dipped 3.38% in October 2019, reflecting the 13.5% contraction in merchandise imports during September, which mirrored a consumption slump ahead of the festive season.
