The government on Friday deferred the release of April GST revenue collection data because of the ongoing lockdown, sources said.

The government had last month extended the deadline to file GST returns for March to May 5, from April 20.

The government usually releases GST revenue collection data on the basis of cash collections in a particular month. However, with the situation arising out of Covid-19, the government has decided to wait till the extended deadline for filing returns before the release of the collection figure.

Sources said because of the “unprecedented situation” arising out of the coronavirus outbreak, it has been decided to defer the April GST collection data release. No date has yet been decided to release this data, they said.

“The government will wait till May 5 before announcing the collections,” a source said.

For business activity in a particular month, GST returns have to be filed in a staggered manner by the 20th of next month. Hence for transactions in March, GST returns had to be filed by April.

20, which was extended till May 5.