The central government has released the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection figures for December 2025, showing a steady improvement in revenue. According to data announced on Thursday, January 1, 2026, total GST collections for the month touched ₹1.74 lakh crore, marking an annual growth of over 6 percent. In comparison, GST revenue in December 2024 stood at more than ₹1.64 lakh crore. This increase indicates a healthy inflow into government coffers during the closing phase of the financial year, despite recent tax rate reductions on several categories of goods.
As per official information, GST collections in December 2025 recorded a year-on-year rise of 6.1 percent. This performance is being viewed as encouraging, especially as the government had implemented significant GST rate cuts. Revenue from domestic transactions rose marginally by 1.2 percent to ₹1.22 lakh crore. Meanwhile, GST collected from imported goods witnessed a sharp surge of 19.7 percent, reaching ₹51,977 crore. During the same period, GST refunds increased substantially by 31 percent to ₹28,980 crore, reflecting higher refund processing and compliance.
After adjusting for refunds, the net GST revenue for December 2025 stood at ₹1.45 lakh crore. This figure represents a 2.2 percent increase compared to the same month last year, suggesting overall stability in tax collections. However, cess collections showed a notable decline. In December 2025, cess revenue amounted to ₹4,238 crore, significantly lower than the ₹12,003 crore collected in December 2024. This drop highlights the impact of changes in cess applicability and revised tax structures introduced by the government.
According to reports, GST rates on around 375 items were reduced starting September 22, 2025, making nearly 99 percent of daily-use goods more affordable for consumers. Additionally, the compensation cess has now been restricted only to tobacco and tobacco-related products, whereas earlier it also applied to luxury and so-called sin goods. Experts believe that although GST rate cuts affected revenue to some extent, higher import earnings and stable domestic activity helped keep overall collections in positive territory.