Starting September 22, the government reduced GST (Goods and Services Tax) rates on 375 items like kitchen staples, electronics, and automobiles.
In September 2025, the government introduced GST 2.0. The tax structure was simplified. Earlier, GST had multiple slabs (like 0%, 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%), which often caused confusion but now there are mainly two tax slabs: 5% and 18%, with a special 40% rate for a few luxury or sin goods. The idea is to make the tax system simpler, reduce evasion, and improve compliance.
Even though GST rates were cut (meaning the government collected less tax per item), people bought more because of the festive season and the lower prices.
As a result, total GST collection in October 2025 was about ₹1.96 lakh crore, which is 4.6% higher than the ₹1.87 lakh crore collected in October 2024. After giving refunds, the net collection (the amount the government keeps) was ₹1.69 lakh crore, which is 0.6% higher than last year.
Explanation of the ₹1.96 lakh crore GST collection
- Central GST (CGST): ₹36,547 crore – This portion goes directly to the Central Government. It is collected on intra-state sales (when goods and services are sold within the same state).
- State GST (SGST): ₹45,134 crore – This part goes to the State Governments. It’s also collected on intra-state sales, the other half of the tax from transactions within the state. It helps states generate revenue for local development and public services.
- Integrated GST (IGST): ₹1,06,443 crore – This is collected on inter-state transactions when goods or services move from one state to another, or on imports. The Central Government collects IGST first, and later it is shared between the Centre and the States based on consumption.
- Cess: ₹7,812 crore – This is an additional tax on specific goods, usually luxury or sin goods like tobacco, coal, aerated drinks, or cars. The money collected from cess is used for compensating states for any revenue loss due to GST implementation. The note says this amount slightly decreased compared to last year, which means the demand for such products may have gone down or the tax rates changed slightly.
Other tax data:
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Gross GST revenue rose by 12.84% year-on-year in October.
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Domestic revenue (from within India) grew only 2%.
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After refunds, net domestic GST revenue was ₹1.31 lakh crore.
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Customs revenue (from imports) rose 2.5% to ₹37,210 crore.
Experts say the strong GST collections show that people are spending more, especially during the festive season, and that business activity is healthy. They believe this gives the government confidence to continue with GST 2.0 reforms, making the tax system simpler, fairer, and more tech-driven.