Growth in India’s gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues bounced back in October with tax collections rising at a 10-month high pace of 13.4% to hit the second highest monthly tally of ₹1.72 lakh crore.

October’s GST receipts were 5.7% over the kitty in September, when growth in the indirect tax had slowed to a 27-month low of 10.2%. The 13.4% revenue growth marks the sharpest year-on-year uptick since December 2022 and breaks a three-month streak of deceleration.

Domestic transactions and services imports yielded a 13% uptick in October’s revenues. The Finance Ministry did not disclose the revenue growth from goods imports. Back of the envelope calculations by The Hindu indicate that GST levies on imports of goods rose 13.9% in October, which is faster than the growth from domestic transactions and the highest uptick in at least 9 months. Revenues from goods imports have contracted in four of the last seven months, including September.

GST Compensation Cess collections, which include ₹1,294 crore levied on goods imports, hit a record high of ₹12,456 crore in October. The previous highest collection of the cess levy that will persist till at least March 2026 was ₹12,025 crore received in April.

The Ministry did not share the revenue growth trends among States and union territories that is usually part of its monthly GST revenue statement, in the communique issued on Wednesday.

Instead, State GST revenue trends for the first seven months of 2023-24 were shared, including the amounts States were credited from collections of the Integrated GST (IGST). Following such IGST settlements, State GST revenues were up 12% between April and October 2023, with just two States reporting negative growth — Manipur (-19%) and Himachal Pradesh (-2%).

“The average gross monthly GST collection in the FY 2023-24 now stands at ₹1.66 lakh crore and is 11% more than that in the same period in the previous financial year,” the Ministry said.