India's gross GST revenue collection remained above Rs 1 lakh crore for the second consecutive month, clocking Rs 1,12,020 crore in August 2021, with economic activities picking up after the second wave of the pandemic.
Though GST revenue during August 2021 was a tad lower than the over Rs 1.16-lakh-crore collection recorded in the previous month, it maintained pace after the fall in June when collection dipped to Rs 92,849 crore after a record high of Rs 1.41 lakh crore in April and over Rs 1 lakh crore in May.
Most tax experts felt that with the economy on the path of recovery and GDP growth in Q1 FY22 also reaching a high of 20.1 percent, GST collections are expected to maintain momentum through the fiscal reducing the requirement of venture to borrow more to meet the compensation needs on account tax collection shortfall to states.
"The revenues for the month of August 2021 are 30 percent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year," a finance ministry statement said.
"GST collection, after posting above Rs 1 lakh crore-mark for nine months in a row, dropped below Rs 1 lakh crore in June 2021 due to the second wave of COVID. With the easing of COVID restrictions, GST collection for July and August 2021 have again crossed Rs 1 lakh crore, which clearly indicates that the economy is recovering at a fast pace," the statement added.
According to the statement, the gross GST revenue collected in the month of August 2021 is Rs 1,12,020 crore of which CGST is Rs 20,522 crore, SGST is Rs 26,605 crore, IGST is Rs 56,247 crore (including Rs 26,884 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 8,646 crore (including Rs 646 crore collected on import of goods).
The government has settled Rs 23,043 crore to CGST and Rs 19,139 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. In addition, Centre has also settled Rs 24,000 crore as IGST ad-hoc settlement in the ratio of 50:50 between Centre and States/UTs.
The total revenue of Centre and the states after regular and ad hoc settlements in the month of August 2021 is Rs 55,565 crore for CGST and Rs 57,744 crore for the SGST.
During the month, the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) are 27 percent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year. Even compared to the August revenue of Rs 98,202 crore in 2019-20, this is a growth of 14 percent.
Coupled with economic growth, anti-evasion activities, especially action against fake billers, has also contributed to the enhanced GST collection. The robust GST revenue is likely to continue in the coming months, the finance ministry said.
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