Govt Postponed the Release of GST Collection Data of April 2020

The Central Government on Friday 1st May 2020 postponed the release of GST revenue collection data of April Month due to the lockdowns and extended dates for return filing caused by COVID-19 Outbreak. In March month the government also extended the due dates by 15 days from the earlier deadline to file GST returns for taxpayers Get to know the online procedure of filing GST return in India. Also, we provide each and every GST form according to the taxpayers and category. Read More having turnover more than Rs 5 crores. The Government also provided relief by removing late fees, penalties, and interest. Meanwhile, in the case where a taxpayer filed GST return between May 5 to June 30 then interest at a reduced rate of 9% will be applicable. Additionally, in the case of return for the business transaction in month March then the due date to file a return was April 20, which is also extended till May 5 (today).

It is important to mention here that the government issues revenue collection data of GST based on the cash collection in a particular month. But due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this time the authorities have decided to postpone the release of GST collection data until the extended due date for GST return filing View the revised due dates of GST return filing forms of GSTR 1, GSTR 3B, GSTR 4, GSTR 5, GSTR 6, GSTR 9, etc. The dates are according to the Indian Government announcement. Read more, as per a source. The sources also stated that the decision has been taken due to this “unprecedented situation” caused by a coronavirus outbreak. The Source further added that the date to release the GST Collection data has not been decided yet.

The Source Further added that “The government is expecting that more returns will be filed and will wait till May 5 before announcing the collection data,”. The decision on the extension of the date to release this date will also be taken soon. Meanwhile, a business having a turnover of over Rs 5 crore will need to file the GST returns for a particular month by the 20th of the following month. As per report In the financial year 2019-20, collection of Goods and Service taxes had remained over the key amount Rs 1 lakh crore mark for 7 out of 12 months. Only in the month of March, the GST collection was Rs 97,597 crore. One other source cleared that, low GST collection till now for April month could be the valid reason for the postponement of the GST collection data release.

We would like to mention here that the nationwide lockdown was imposed on the 25th of March to halt the spread of Coronavirus disease. It was the first lockdown and after that, 2 more lockdowns were imposed to avoid community transfer of the virus. As per the report released by the government on Thursday stated that the output of eight core sectors contracted by 6.5% in the month of March. The country was in complete lockdown in April month except for the essential services thus it is expected that the real impact on GST revenue will be reflected in the data of May month. In this matter, experts already told that the GST mop-up in May month would only and largely come from telecom, food processing, FMCG, and pharma sectors.