Gross GST col-lection hit Rs 147,686 crore in September, 26 per cent higher than a year ago, reflecting buoyancy in tax collection and stability of the GST portal, the finance ministry said on Saturday.

The collections were above Rs 1.40 lakh crore for the seventh month in a row and with the ongoing festive season, the collections are expected to go up in the coming months, experts said.

“The gross GST revenue collected in September is Rs147,686 crore, of which Central GST is Rs 25,271 crore, State GST is Rs 31,813 crore, Integrated GST is Rs 80,464 crore (including Rs 41,215 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is Rs 10,137 crore (including Rs 856 crore collected on import of goods),” it said.

M.S. Mani, partner, Deloitte India, said: “The GST monthly collections stabilising above Rs1.4 lakh crore for seven months in a row would provide more headroom on the fiscal front. The collections in the next three months are expected to be even more robust due to the higher consumption expected during the festive season and the extension of the mandatory e-invoice protocol to tax-payers having turnover above Rs10 crore from October 1.”

In September, revenues from import of goods were 39 per cent higher, while from domestic transaction (including import of services) the mop-up was 22 per cent more than the amount collected in the year-ago month.