Busness Boost: Late Fee For Non-Furnishing Of Form GSTR-3B Reduced/Waived

New Delhi: New Delhi: The 40th GST Council, which met on Friday under the chairmanship of Union Finance & Corporate Affairs minister Nirmala Sitharaman through video conferencing, decided to reduce/waive late fee for non-furnishing of non-furnishing, for the tax period from July 2017 to January 2020.

The maximum late fee has been capped at Rs 500 per return, if there is any tax liability. For no tax liability, there will be zero late fee.  if there is no tax liability.

The reduced rate of late fee will apply for all GSTR-3B returns furnished between July 1, 2020, to September 30, 2020.

Following are the other recommendations by GST council on changes in law and procedures:

Further relief for small taxpayers for late filing of returns for February, March & April 2020 tax periods: For small taxpayers (aggregate turnover upto Rs 5 crore), for the supplies effected in the month of February, March and April, 2020, the rate of interest for late furnishing of return for the said months beyond specified dates (staggered upto July 6, 2020) is reduced from 18% per annum to 9% per annum till 30.09.2020. In other words, for these months, small taxpayers will not be charged any interest till the notified dates for relief (staggered upto July 6, 2020) and thereafter 9% interest will be charged till September 30, 2020.

Relief for small taxpayers for subsequent tax periods (May, June & July 2020): In wake of COVID-19 pandemic, for taxpayers having aggregate turnover upto Rs 5 crore, further relief provided by waiver of late fees and interest if the returns in Form GSTR-3B for the supplies effected in the months of May, June and July, 2020 are furnished by September, 2020 (staggered dates to be notified).

One-time extension in period for seeking revocation of cancellation of registration: To facilitate taxpayers who could not get their cancelled GST registrations restored in time, an opportunity is being provided for filing of application for revocation of cancellation of registration up to September 30, 2020, in all cases where registrations have been cancelled till June 12, 2020.

Further, certain clauses of the Finance Act, 2020 amending CGST Act 2017 and IGST Act, 2017, will be brought into force from 30.06.2020.

The meeting was attended by Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur, Finance Ministers of states & UTs and senior officers of Ministry of Finance and states/UTs.