June’s GST revenue lowest in 10 months, COVID-19 responsible
The Goods and Services Tax collection in June 2021 fell to Rs. 92,849 crore, the lowest in 10 months, as per the data released by the Finance Ministry of the Government of India.
The Ministry said, “The GST collection for June 2021 is related to the business transactions made during May 2021. During May 2021, most of the states/union territories were under either complete or partial lockdown due to COVID-19.”
In May, when the COVID-19 situation in the country was at its worst, most state governments had to impose stringent lockdowns in the states. The lockdowns adversely affected the economic activities in the country again just when the economy of the country was crawling back to normalcy.
It was expected that the second wave would impact the economy appallingly. Though the collection was the lowest in 10 months, it was better than the expectations, showing that the impact on the economy was less severe. Out of Rs. 92, 849 crore, Rs. 16,424 crore was Central GST, Rs. 20,397 crore was state GST, Rs. 49,079 crore (including Rs. 25,762 crore collected on import of goods) was integrated GST and Rs. 6,949 crore (including Rs. 809 crore collected on import of goods) was cess.
Before June, the collections had been over Rs. 1 lakh crore for 8 months straight. Analysts have said that this isn’t a matter of concern, and the amount would rebound soon with the improvement of the COVID-19 situation in the country.
GST collection in June 2021 was 2 per cent higher than last year’s collection in June which was Rs 90,917 crore. Since there was a nationwide lockdown in 2020, there was greater disruption in economic activities.
Sources: The Indian Express, The Hindustan Times, Moneycontrol
