The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections were badly hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So far the government has in this financial year achieved only less than half the revised full-year target. In simple terms, it comes out only 47 percent of the revised full-year target of Rs 6.90 lakh crore GST collections. It was estimated that out of the total tax collections under GST, 84 percent will come from central GST (Rs 5.80 lakh crore), and 16 percent (Rs 1.10 lakh crore) from the GST compensation cess. For the next fiscal 2021-22, the government has estimated the target of Rs 6.3 lakh crore, which is 22.3 percent or Rs 1.14 lakh crore more of its revised estimate for the current fiscal.
In the Union Budget 2021, the finance minister had revised down its estimates by 25 percent to Rs 5.15 lakh crore from Rs 6.91 lakh crore for the current fiscal. Realisation from Central GST (CGST) was lowered to Rs 4.31 lakh crore from the earlier estimate of Rs 5.8 lakh crore. GST compensation cess was lowered to 84,100 crores from the 1.10 lakh crore earlier.
So far, Rs 2.43 lakh crore has been collected (CGST + GST compensation cess), which is Rs 2.72 lakh crore or 52.81 percent less than the total target of 5.15 lakh crore for the current fiscal. As against the revised target of Rs 4.31 lakh crore, so far this fiscal CGST collection stands at Rs 1.71 lakh crore. The total GST cess so far this fiscal stood at Rs 72,248 crore, as against the revised estimates of Rs 84,100 crore.
The government has collected total gross GST revenue of Rs 10.12 lakh crore during April 2020-February 2021, as against a total gross GST collection of Rs 12.22 lakh crore in 2019-20. During the lockdown months of April and May 2020, GST revenue had tumbled over 50 percent on-year. The GST collections have been rising since September-2020. Since October 2020, GST revenue figures have held above the one lakh crore mark per month. In February 2021, the monthly GST revenue topped Rs 1 lakh-crore mark the fifth time in a row. The revenues for the month of February 2021 were 7 percent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year. GST collection stood at Rs 1.05 lakh crore in February 2020.
