India's GST collections grow 4.6% to ₹1.96 trillion in October despite tax cuts - livemint.com
India's collections of goods and services tax (GST) witnessed a 4.6% year-on-year (YoY) growth to ₹1.96 trillion in October 2025, despite the tax cuts rolled out by the central government's GST council in September this year amid the festive season in the nation.
The government data showed that the gross GST collections jumped to ₹1.96 trillion in October 2025, compared to their earlier level of ₹1.87 trillion in the same period the previous year.
The rise in the collections in October 2025 marked the slowest pace of the revenue growth after the central government-led GST Council cut down the tax slabs for the Indian economy. The GST collection rose at 4.6% in October, compared to an average growth rate of 9%.
The gross domestic revenue rose 2% to ₹1.45 trillion, while the tax collected from the imports rose 13% to ₹50,884 crore in October 2025.
The rise in the October GST collection number is fueled by the festive season demand and the overall sales in October.
According to the data release, the GST refunds during October 2025 also recorded a nearly 39.6% jump to ₹26,934 crore, while the Net GST revenue after adjusting for the refunds stood at ₹1.69 trillion in the same period, marking a 0.2% growth year-on-year.
“Despite massive rate cuts effective from September 22, a slight increase in domestic GST collection is encouraging and shows that demand is steadily increasing. Consistent increase in GST refunds (domestic as well as exports) shows confidence of tax administration that GST collections would show positive trend in future as well. Next month's data would have the full impact of GST cuts and would be keenly awaited,” said Pratik Jain, Partner at Price Waterhouse & Co (PWC) LLP.
Others, like Karthik Mani, Partner at BDO India, said that the November 2025 GST collections will be higher due to the festive season demand and the increased affordability of products due to the lower tax rates in the economy.
According to earlier media reports citing Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) data, the total sales of goods and services jumped to more than ₹6 trillion as the central government rolled out its GST rate cuts.
GST rate cuts in India
The GST Council, on 22 September 2025, implemented a new ‘two-tier’ goods and services tax (GST) structure. Under the updated GST regime, the goods sold in India now have new tax rates of 5% and 18%, compared to the earlier multi-level tax structure.
The GST rates have been reduced on a series of 375 items sold in the country, as the central government imposed a lower tax rate on these products. These items include automobiles, electronics, equipment, kitchen staples and medicines, among other things.
Other items, such as milk, coffee, condensed milk, biscuits, butter, cereals, corn flakes, air conditioners (ACs), dishwashers, televisions (TVs), and washing machines, also witnessed a tax cut effective 22 September 2025.