Small Taxpayers Get More Time To File Summary GST Returns Every Month

The government extended the last day of filing the summarised goods and services tax returns for small businesses every month as it staggered the process to avoid glitches and delays.

Businesses with an annual turnover below Rs 5 crore will get two to four days more to file their GSTR-3B returns without any late fee, according to a statement by the Ministry of Finance. This has been done considering the difficulties faced by trade and industry in filing of returns, the statement said. The “temporary but an immediate measure” follows discussions with the Goods and Services Tax Network, the technology backbone of GST.

Frequent technical glitches and last-minute filing load have been a big cause of frustration and inconvenience for businesses, Krishan Arora, partner at Grant Thornton India LLP, told BloombergQuint. The move to file returns on a staggered basis would not only ease the load on the portal, but also provide relief to taxpayers by giving them more time to ensure timely compliance, he said.

As of now, taxpayers have to file returns by the 20th of the following month. For example, returns for January 2020 will have to be filed by Feb. 20.

Now, the ministry has categorised small taxpayers with a turnover of less than Rs 5 crore based on their states. For 49 lakh such taxpayers from 15 states and union territories, the last day for filing GSTR-3B returns will the 22nd of the following month.

These states and UTs are: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

The deadline will be the 24th of the following month for 46 lakh small taxpayers in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha.

The government will issue a notification for the change, the statement said. The government is also in the process to improve GSTN filing portal, and several technological measures will be in place by April this year, it added.

Businesses with a turnover above Rs 5 crore will continue to file GSTR-3B returns by the 20th of the following month. According to the ministry, there are about 8 lakh such regular taxpayers.