The Financial Express : Sep 02, 2019, 12:09 AM
GST collection for August has dropped below Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 98,202 crore — a fall from Rs 1,02,083 crore in July. Out of the total collection, CGST stood at Rs 17,733 crore, SGST collected was Rs 24,239 crore, IGST saw Rs 48,958 crore in total including Rs 24,818 crore collected on imports while Cess collection was Rs 7,273 crore including Rs 841 crore collected on imports, according to government data.The August collection, however, was 4.5 per cent up from Rs 93,960 crore collected in GST in August 2018. Nonetheless, it is the second fall in the current financial year after the collection went down in June this year to Rs 99,939 crore.Moreover, the total number of GSTR 3B Returns filed for July up to 31 August 2019 was 75.80 lakhs while the total revenue earned by central and state governments after regular settlement in the month of August 2019 was Rs 40,898 crores for CGST and Rs 40,862 crore for the SGST, ANI tweeted. The fall in the collection comes amid economic slowdown as the country posted its weakest growth in over six years at 5 per cent in the June quarter even as it slowed for the sixth straight quarter.The average monthly GST collection was estimated to be Rs 1.14 lakh crore, as per FY20 budget estimates, by the centre and state companies according to 14 per cent notional GST revenue growth for states that the central government is committed to protecting.The August revenue, as per the data, grew by 4.51 per cent from August 2018 revenue. GST on imports has reduced by 1.43 per cent while the overall collection grew by 6.38 per cent during April-August, 2019 in comparison to 2018. Also, according to the government Rs 27,955 crore in GST compensation has been released to the states for June-July, 2019.