E-Paper
GST collection grows 6.1% in December 2025 as rate-cut impact shows
The GST rate cuts effected in September 2025 made hundreds of items cheaper but reduced the central government's monthly GST revenue at the same time.
India's GST collections is showing a marginal improvement as the impact of GST 2.0 continued to weigh on domestic indirect-tax revenue.
Gross GST collection rose 6.1% to over ₹1.74 lakh crore in December 2025, as against ₹1.64 lakh crore in the year-ago period and ₹1.70 lakh crore in the previous month, according to government data released on Thursday. That also compares with all-time high GST collection of ₹2.36 lakh crore in April 2025.
GST collections in December 2025
- Local GST revenue rose 1.2% year-on-year to ₹1.22 lakh crore.
- GST revenue from imports rose 19.7% year-on-year to ₹51,977 crore.
- GST refunds were up 31% year-on-year at ₹28,980 crore.
- Net GST revenue rose 2.2% year-on-year to ₹1.45 lakh crore.
- GST compension cess fell 64.69% year-on-year to ₹4,238 crore.
- Gross GST collection rose 6.1% year-on-year to ₹1.74 lakh crore.
“The moderation in domestic GST collection aligns with expectations following the GST rationalisation,” Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner at EY India, told HT.com over WhatsApp. “However, the uptick in GST collections on imports warrants a closer look, as it is not in alignment with the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision of self-reliance.”
On 22 September 2025, the Narendra Modi government cut GST rate on soaps to small cars, while doing away with the compensation cess altogether. That made hundreds of items cheaper but reduced the monthly revenue for the government exchequer.
