Government defers release of April GST collection data

government on Friday deferred release of April GST revenue collection data as ongoing lockdown and extended return filing deadline led to lower mop-up during month, sources said. government had in March extended deadline to file GST returns for entities with turver of over Rs 5 crore by 15 days from due date without payment of any late fee, interest and penalty. However, a reduced rate of 9 per cent interest will be levied if return is filed after May 5 till June 30.

For business transaction in March, GST return was to be filed by April 20, which was extended till May 5. As per convention, government releases GST revenue collection number on basis of cash collection in a particular month. However, with situation arising out of COVID-19, government has decided to wait till extended deadline for filing return before release of collection figure, a source said.

Sources said due to "unprecedented situation" arising out of coronavirus outbreak, it has been decided to defer April GST collection data release. date has yet been decided to release this data, y said.

" government is expecting that more returns will be filed and will wait till May 5 before anuncing collection data," a source said, adding a decision on extension of this date will also be taken.

Businesses with turver exceeding Rs 5 crore have to file GST return for a particular month by 20th of next month. In 2019-20 fiscal, Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection had remained above key Rs 1 lakh crore mark for 7 months out of 12. collection was Rs 97,597 crore in March.

According to ar source, low collection figure till w for April could have been reason for deferment of GST data release on Friday. nationwide lockdown to contain spread of COVID-19 disease was imposed on March 25. Data released by government on Thursday showed that output of eight core sector contracted by 6.5 per cent in March.

real impact of lockdown on GST revenue will be reflected in revenue collections in May (for business activity in April) as country was in complete lockdown last month with only essential services permitted. Experts said GST mop-up in May would mainly come from sectors like telecom, FMCG, food processing and pharma.