In another indicator of economic slowdown, GST collection in the month of August dropped below Rs 1 lakh crore mark to Rs 98,202 crore. The tax collection was at Rs 1.02 lakh crore in July this year. The August mop-up was, however, 4.5 per cent higher than the Rs 93,960 crore collected in the same month last year. 

This is the second time during this year that the revenue collection from the GST has slipped below the Rs 1 lakh crore mark. First, it happened in June when the collection was Rs 99,939 crore. 

Central GST collections stood at Rs 17,733 crore, State GST Rs 24,239 crore, and Integrated GST Rs 48,958 crore (including Rs 24,818 crore collected on imports) during August this year. 

Cess collection stood at Rs 7,273 crore (including Rs 841 crore collected on imports). 

The number of GSTR 3B Returns (summary of self-assessed return) filed for the month of July up to end-August totalled 75.80 lakh. 

Gross GST collections during April-August stood at Rs 5,14,378 crore, up from Rs 4,83,538 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal. This shows a growth of 6.3 per cent during the five months of the current fiscal. 

For 2019-20, the government proposes to collect Rs 6.10 lakh crore from CGST and Rs 1.01 lakh crore as compensation cess. The IGST balance has been pegged at Rs 50,000 crore. 

The CGST collection in 2018-19 was Rs 4.25 lakh crore, while compensation cess was over Rs 97,000 crore. 

The August numbers are in line with the other disappointing economic indicators. Two days ago, GDP growth slipped to over six years low of 5 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2019-20. 

The government needs over Rs 1 lakh crore GST in order to meet its fiscal target and also to not compensate states for losses. It compensates states once in every two months for the losses they incur in the first five years of the implementation of GST. The government has already transferred Rs 27,955 crore to the states in the form of compensation in June-July this year and Rs 17,789 crore in April-May. #casansaar (Source - PTI, Economic Times)