India’s gross collections under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in November 2025 recorded a marginal increase, even as sweeping rate cuts came into effect in September. The government reported gross GST collections of approximately ₹1,70,276 crore, up around 0.7 % year-on-year from November 2024.

Key Highlights

• India’s GST collections in November 2025 rose slightly overall, despite domestic revenue declining after rate reductions.
• Domestic GST collections dropped 2.3 percent, reflecting impact of September 2025 rate cuts on tax yields.

However, the data also indicates underlying strain: domestic-GST collections (i.e., from supplies made domestically) slipped about 2.3 %, coinciding with the first full month following the GST rate reduction implemented from 22 September 2025. In the words of Karthik Mani, Partner, Indirect Tax at BDO India:

Karthik Mani, Partner, Indirect tax at BDO India, said, "The Gross domestic GST collections for the month of November 2025 (which pertain to supplies made in the month of October, 2025) have shown a decline of 2.3% compared with the same numbers for the month of November 2024. This data is for the first full month after the GST rate reduction. This drop is clearly due to the effect of GST rate reductions coming into effect from 22 September 2025. It was hoped that the increase in volume of purchases due to increased affordability from the rate reduction, that too, in the festive period of Diwali which traditionally sees significantly high demand, would offset the drop in revenue due to GST rate reductions, but instead, there is a reduction in the Gross domestic GST Collections."

"Also, while previously the compensation cess collection was also included in the GST collection data, present data has treated cess separately, and if the cess is also considered as a part of Gross domestic GST Collection, the numbers would show a further dip, since the cess collection has reduced by two-thirds, mainly due to only tobacco now being subject to the cess and other items like aerated beverages and motor vehicles going outside the ambit of cess", he added.

He further observed, "While the net GST collections on an overall basis, excluding cess, have shown a minor increase of 1.3% (net decrease if the cess is also considered) due to significant increase in IGST collections on imports as well as some dip in the amount of refunds, it would now be interesting to see the GST collections for the next few months to see the level at which the collection numbers stabilise after the rate reductions."

Also Read: GST Collections Hit Rs 1.95 Lakh Cr in Oct, Second Highest Ever

The decline in domestic collections is attributed in part to the large-scale rate rationalisation affecting hundreds of items, altering the tax yield despite hopes that heightened consumption in the festival season would offset revenue losses. Moreover, changes in treatment of compensation cess—now reported separately—mean that if the cess were counted with GST collections, the apparent dip would be even larger, given that cess collections have fallen significantly as only tobacco remains subject to it.

In summary: although India’s GST revenues held up overall with modest year-on-year growth, the underlying shift in domestic tax contributions signals a transitional phase for the tax regime. The coming months will be critical in assessing whether new consumer-price points and improved affordability will sustainably underpin indirect-tax growth under the recalibrated GST structure.