GST revenue remained above Rs 1 trillion-mark for the second straight month in August at over Rs 1.12 trillion, 30 per cent higher than the collection in the year-ago period, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

       "The gross GST revenue collected in the month of August 2021 is Rs 1,12,020 crore of which Central GST is Rs 20,522 crore, State GST is Rs 26,605 crore, Integrated GST 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 finance ministry said in a statement.

       The mop up in August is, however, lower than Rs 1.16 trillion collected in July 2021.

       "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," said Ministry of Finance in a statement.

       The revenues for the month of August 2021 are 30 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year. In August 2020, Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection was Rs 86,449 crore.

       Compared to the August 2019 revenues of Rs 98,202 crore, this is a growth of 14 per cent, the Ministry said.

       During August this year, the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) were 27 per cent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

       The Ministry of Finance has recently extended the last date for availing the GST amnesty scheme where taxpayers pay a reduced fee for late filing of monthly returns, till November 30, 2021. Previously, the last date for submitting GST returns with reduced late fees was August 31.

       In early August, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection for July 2021 has again crossed Rs 1 lakh crore with easing out of COVID-19 restrictions. She added it indicates that the economy is recovering at a fast pace. This statement was made by the Minister on 1 August. Sitharaman tweeted, “With the easing out of COVID restrictions, GST collection for July 2021 has again crossed Rs one lakh crore, which clearly indicates that the economy is recovering at a fast pace. The robust GST revenues are likely to continue in the coming months too."