Budget 2022: GST Collection In January At Record Rs 1.40 Lakh Crore On Rapid Economic Growth, Says FM

January is the fourth month when the GST collections has crossed Rs 1.30 lakh crore, and seventh month in a row when the GST figure crossed the Rs 1-lakh crore mark

New Delhi: The Goods and Service Tax (GST) collections in January 2022 hit a staggering Rs 1.40 lakh crore, growth of 15 per cent over the year-ago period, the highest since the roll-out of the indirect tax regime.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said this in the Lok Sabha, while presenting the Union Budget for 2022-23.

“Gross GST collection in January at record Rs 1.40 lakh crore; this has been possible due to rapid economic recovery,” the minister said.

January is the fourth month when the GST collections has crossed Rs 1.30 lakh crore, and seventh month in a row when the GST figure crossed the Rs 1-lakh crore mark. In December 2021, the GST collection was above Rs 1.29 lakh crore.

The revenues for January are more than 24 per cent higher than those witnessed a year ago, and over 35 per cent higher than the GST revenues collected in January 2020.

The second highest monthly GST collection was in April 2021 at Rs 1.39 lakh crore, while in December it was more than Rs 1.29 lakh crore.

The finance ministry on Monday said, “The gross GST revenue collected in the month of January 2022 till 3 PM on January 31, 2022, is Rs 1,38,394 crore of which CGST is Rs 24,674 crore, SGST is Rs 32,016 crore, IGST is Rs 72,030 crore (including Rs 35,181 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 9,674 crore (including Rs 517 crore collected on import of goods).”

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Total number of GSTR-3B returns filed up to January 30, 2022 is 10.5 million, which includes 3.6 million quarterly returns, the finance ministry said.

After a 6.6 per cent contraction in 2020-21, the economy made a smart recovery to an estimated 9.2 per cent growth in the current fiscal ending March 2022, on the back of vaccination programme and lifting of Covid-related restrictions.

The recovery has strengthened as the new Covid variant has been less devastating than the previous one, leading to fewer curbs on economic and business activities.