The government’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections climbed 10 percent year-on-year in the last month of 2023 to Rs 1.65 lakh crore, the Ministry of Finance said on January 1.

At Rs 1.65 lakh crore, the December GST collections is 2 percent lower than the Rs 1.68 lakh crore collected in November. This is the tenth month in a row that the monthly GST collection has come in above the Rs 1.5-lakh-crore mark.

The latest GST data takes the average monthly collection in 2023-24 to Rs 1.66 lakh crore.

Monthly GST collections have risen over the years. From averaging under Rs 1 lakh crore per month in 2017-18 – its first year – collections rose rapidly after the pandemic-hit 20202-21 to average Rs 1.51 lakh crore in 2022-23.

During the April-December 2023 period, gross GST collection witnessed a robust 12 percent year-on-year growth, reaching Rs 14.97 lakh crore, as against Rs 13.40 lakh crore collected in the same period of the previous year,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

The average monthly gross GST collection of Rs 1.66 lakh crore in the first 9-month period this year represents a 12 percent increase compared to the Rs 1.49 lakh crore average recorded in the corresponding period of FY23,” it added.

In December, Central GST collection stood at Rs 30,443 crore, State GST was Rs 37,935 crore, Integrated GST was Rs 84,255 crore, and cess was Rs 12,249 crore.

Further, the government settled Rs 40,057 crore to Central GST and Rs 33,652 crore to State GST from Integrated GST. As a result, the total revenue for the month post settlement was Rs 70,501 crore for the Centre and Rs 71,587 crore for State GST.

“Overall, the growth in GST collections in first nine months of the fiscal has been encouraging,” said Pratik Jain, Partner at Price Waterhouse & Co LLP.

“The collection in January 2024 is expected to be even higher, partly attributable to increase in GST audits and notices in last few months to meet the statutory timelines,” Jain added.

While total GST collected in December is slightly lower than what was mopped-up in November, it is another month of double-digit year-on-year growth – although down from 15 percent in November. In fact, the YoY increase in GST collections in November was the highest in 11 months.

As per the 2023-24 Budget, the Centre expects its GST collections to rise by 12 percent in the current financial year.