New Delhi: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections dropped sharply to a 19-month low of Rs 91,916 crore in September, mirroring a widening slowdown in economy triggered by shrinking consumer demand.
This is the second straight month of decline in the GST collections, according to official data released by the finance ministry.
The tax collections at Rs 91,916 crore in September was lower than Rs 98,202 crore collected in August and Rs 94,442 crore mop-up in the same month a year back.
GST, which from July 1, 2017, amalgamated 17 different central and state levies, including excise duty, service tax and VAT, is a reflection of economic activity and a decline in collections indicated a downturn.
Experts, however, hoped for an upturn in October on the back of increased demand during the festival season.
The gross GST collections comprised of Rs 16,630 crore collection through Central-GST (CGST), Rs 22,598 crore in State-GST and Rs 45,069 crore through Integrated-GST (IGST). As much as Rs 7,620 crore was collected as cess levied on luxury and sin goods.
"The revenue during September 2019 declined by 2.67 per cent in comparison to the revenue during September 2018. During April-September, 2019 vis-a-vis 2018, the domestic component has grown by 7.82 per cent while the GST on imports has shown negative growth and the total collection has grown by 4.90 per cent," the statement said.
India's GDP slowed to more than six-year low of 5 per cent in April-June, prompting the government to take an array of steps to boost the economy, including a steepest ever cut in corporate tax rate which would cost Rs 1.45 lakh crore.
During April-September, the GST collections totalled Rs 6.06 lakh crore. In comparison, tax collections in the same period of the previous fiscal were Rs 5.78 lakh crore.
