Hon’ble Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharam in her Budget Speech on 1st day of February, 2021, omitted Section 35(5) and substituted Section 44 by Section 110 & 111 of the Finance Act, 2021 respectively in the CGST Act, 2017, so as to remove the mandatory requirement of furnishing a Reconciliation Statement (GSTR-9C) duly audited by a Practicing Chartered Accountant or a Cost Accountant.
In 43rd GST Council Meeting, dated May 28, 2021 the council decided to amend Section 35 and Section 44 of the CGST Act as per Finance Act, 2021 and the changes will be applicable for the Financial Year 2020-2021. It was also decided on that meeting that GSTR 9/9A for Financial Year 2020-2021 will be optional for taxpayers having aggregate Annual Turnover up to Rs.2 Cr. and reconciliation statement in Form GSTR 9C will be made optional for taxpayers having aggregate Annual Turnover up to Rs.5 Cr.
On 30th of July, 2021 the Council notified about the same through Notification No. 29/2021, as the date of applicability of Section 110 and 111 of the Finance Act, 2021 will be 1st of August, 2021. i.e. form 1st of August, 2021, Section 35 and Section 44 will be amended as follows:
In section 35 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, sub-section (5) shall be omitted. [Sec. 110 of The Finance Act, 2021]
For section 44 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:––
“44. Every registered person, other than an Input Service Distributor, a person paying tax under section 51 or section 52, a casual taxable person and a non-resident taxable person shall furnish an annual return which may include a self-certified reconciliation statement, reconciling the value of supplies declared in the return furnished for the financial year, with the audited annual financial statement for every financial year electronically, within such time and in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed:
Provided that the Commissioner may, on the recommendations of the Council, by notification, exempt any class of registered persons from filing annual return under this section:
Provided further that nothing contained in this section shall apply to any department of the Central Government or a State Government or a local authority, whose books of account are subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India or an auditor appointed for auditing the accounts of local authorities under any law for the time being in force.”. [Section 111 of the Finance Act, 2021]
The above notification created a huge confusion regarding the interpretation of effective date of amendment as 1st of August, 2021. i.e. whether this amendments are applicable for returns filed after 1st of August, 2021, or this amendments are applicable for returns filed for the period form 1st August, 2021.
Though all of us are seeking for some further clarification regarding this issue, still, to my humble view this amendment will be effective for the Financial Year 2020-21, as the Council had already decided that in the 43rd Council Meeting. Notification No. 30/2021 – Central Tax, dated 30th July, 2021 which amends Rule 80 of the CGST Rules, 2017 giving effect for the Financial Year 2020-21, omits Part B i.e. Auditor’s Certification Part from Form No GSTR 9C and strikes off the term “auditors recommendation”. Which also implies that Auditor Certification is not required for GSTR 9C filed for the Financial Year 2020-21.
Notification No. 30/2021 – Central Tax, dated 30th July, 2021 amends Rule 80 of the CGST Rules, 2021 as a Self-Certified Reconciliation statement in GSTR 9C is exempted for following registered persons:
> Any department of the Central Government or a State Government or a local authority, whose books of account are subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India or an auditor appointed for auditing the accounts of local authorities under any law for the time being in force
> Input Service Distributor
> Registered persons Deducting Tax at Source as per Section 51 of the Act
> E-Commerce operators, liable to collect and pay tax as per Section 52 of the Act
> Casual taxable Person
> Non Resident Taxable Person
> Any other registered person who’s Aggregate Turnover during a Financial Year does not exceeds Rs.5 Cr.
The Said notification also amends the following points in Form No GSTR 9 and GSTR 9C as follows:
GSTR 9
| Sl. No. in Form | Matter | Amendment | Remarks |
| 4. Details of advances, inward and outward supplies on which tax is payable as declared in returns filed during the financial year | |||
| 4I | Credit Notes issued in respect of transactions specified in (B) to (E) above | Optional | Registered persons can fill net of Outward supplies for which tax is payable after deducting Credit notes in Sl. No. 4B to 4E. |
| 4J | Debit Notes issued in respect of transactions specified in (B) to (E) above | Optional | Registered Persons can fill net of Outward supplies for which tax is payable after adding Debit notes in Sl. No. 4B to 4E. |
| 4K & 4L | Supplies / tax declared through Amendments & Supplies / tax reduced through Amendments | Optional | Registered Persons can fill the details of Outward supplies for which tax is payable after adjusting the amendments made in GSTR 1 during the Financial Year. |
| 5. Details of Outward supplies on which tax is not payable as declared in returns filed during the financial year | |||
| 5D, 5E & 5F | Exempted, Nil Rated & Non-GST supply | Optional | Registered Persons can fill the accumulated figure of these three fields in “Exempt” field only. Bifurcation of Exempted, Nil Rated & Non-GST supply can be avoided. |
| 5H | Credit Notes issued in respect of transactions specified in A to F above | Optional | Registered persons can fill net of Outward supplies for which tax is not payable after deducting Credit notes in Sl. No. 5A to 5F. |
| 5I | Debit Notes issued in respect of
transactions specified in A to F above |
Optional | Registered Persons can fill net of Outward supplies for which tax is not payable after adding Debit notes in Sl. No. 5A to 5F. |
| 5J & 5K | Supplies declared through
Amendments & Supplies reduced through Amendments |
Optional | Registered Persons can fill the details of Outward supplies for which tax is not payable after adjusting the amendments made in GSTR 1 during the Financial Year. |
| 6. Details of ITC availed as declared in returns filed during the financial year | |||
| 6B | Inward supplies (other than imports and inward supplies liable to reverse charge but includes services
received from SEZs) |
Partly optional | Registered persons can avoid bifurcation of Inputs and Input Services and can fill the accumulated figure in Inputs field, but ITC on capital Goods field is mandatory. So A registered person can first fill up ITC on Capital Goods then the remaining balance can be filled in Inputs Field only. |
| 6C | Inward supplies received from unregistered persons liable to reverse charge (other than B above) on which tax is paid & ITC availed | Optional | Registered Persons can avoid bifurcation of ITC on RCM from Registered (Sl. No. 6C) and unregistered persons (Sl. No. 6D), they can write the accumulated figure in Sl. No. 6D only. They can also avoid bifurcation of Inputs and Input Services. Inputs on capital Goods field can be filled first and then the remaining balance can be filled on Inputs Field only. |
| 6D | Inward supplies received from registered persons liable to reverse charge (other than B above) on which tax is paid and ITC availed. | Partly Optional. | Registered persons can avoid bifurcation of Inputs and Input Services and can fill the accumulated figure in Inputs field, but ITC on capital Goods field is mandatory. So A registered person can first fill up ITC on Capital Goods then the remaining balance can be filled in Inputs Field only. |
| 7. Details of ITC Reversed and Ineligible ITC as declared in returns filed during the financial year | |||
| 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, 7E, 7F, 7G and 7H | As per Rule 37, As per Rule 39, As per Rule 42, As per Rule 43, As per section 17(5), Reversal of TRAN-I credit, Reversal of TRAN-II credit, Other reversals | Partly Optional | Registered Persons can fill up the accumulated figure from Sl. No. 7A to 7E in Sl. No. 7H i.e. in Other Reversal Field, but Reversal of Transitional credit fields are mandatory. |
| Pt. V | Particulars of the transactions for the previous FY declared in returns of April to September of current
FY or up to date of filing of annual return of previous FY whichever is earlier |
Change in period | Transactions pertaining to Financial Year, 2020-21 but tax paid/Reduced/ ITC availed or reversed in GSTR 3B for the period Between April, 2021 to September, 2021 is to be filled in this point which consists of Serial no. 10 to 13 in this Form. |
| 10 & 11 | Supplies / tax declared through Amendments, Supplies / tax reduced through Amendments | Change in Period | Amendment of invoices pertaining to Financial Year 2020-21 made in GSTR 1 for the period between April, 2021 to September, 2021 is to be filled here. |
| 12 | Reversal of ITC availed during previous financial year | Change in Period & Optional | ITC for the year 2020-21 reversed through GSTR 3B for the period between April, 2021 to September, 2021 is to be filled here. This Serial is also made optional. |
| 13 | ITC availed for the previous financial year | Change in Period & Optional | ITC for the year 2020-21 availed in GSTR 3B for the period between April, 2021 to September, 2021 is to be filled here. ITC reversed in 2020-21 as per provisions of Section 16(2) but reclaimed in GSTR 3B for the period between April, 2021 to September, 2021 will not come in this field. The same will be furnished in annual return for 2021-22. This Serial is also made optional for financial Year 2020-21. |
| 15. Particulars of Demands and Refunds | |||
| 15A, 15B, 15C & 15D | Total Refund claimed, Total Refund sanctioned, Total Refund Rejected, Total
Refund Pending |
Optional | Refunds claimed, sanction, rejected and pending in the financial year 2020-21 is to be filled in these fields. Furnishing of these fields can be avoided for the FY 2020-21 |
| 15E, 15F, 15G | Total demand of taxes, Total taxes paid in respect of E above & Total demands pending out of E above | Optional | Registered Persons can avoid furnishing details of demand raised during the Financial year. |
| 16. Information on supplies received from composition taxpayers, deemed supply under section 143 and goods sent on approval basis | |||
| 16A, 16B & 16C | Supplies received from Composition taxpayers, Deemed supply under Section 143, Goods sent on approval basis but not returned. | Optional | Registered Persons can avoid furnishing details of the services received made or goods sent for the mentioned purposes. |
| 17 & 18 | HSN Wise Summary of outward supplies & HSN Wise Summary of Inward supplies | Optional | Furnishing of HSN wise details of Inward and outward supplies be avoided. |
GSTR 9C
| Sl. No. in the Form | Matter | Amendment | Remarks |
| 5 | Reconciliation of Gross Turnover | Partly Optional | Any adjustment in Turnover which is to be furnished in Serial No. 5B to 5N other than Serial No. 5G can be written cumulatively in Serial No. 5O i.e. “Adjustments in turnover due to reasons not listed above” |
| 9, 11 and | Reconciliation of rate wise liability and amount payable thereon, Additional amount payable but not paid. | A new rate field “others” is inserted. That means when the rate is none of 28%, 18%, 12%, 5%, 3%, 0.25% or 0.1% then the data can be filled in “others” field. The term | |
| Pt. V | Auditor’s recommendation on additional Liability due to non-reconciliation | New Field Inserted, partly substituted. | A new rate field “others” is inserted. “Auditor’s recommendation on additional Liability due to non-reconciliation” is substituted by “Additional Liability due to non-reconciliation”. Verification part is substituted as : Verification of registered person:
I hereby solemnly affirm and declare that the information given herein above is true and correct and nothing has been concealed there from. I am uploading this self-certified reconciliation statement in FORM GSTR-9C. I am also uploading other statements, as applicable, including financial statement, profit and loss account and balance sheet, etc.” |
| 12. Reconciliation of Net Input Tax Credit (ITC) | |||
| 12B & 12C | ITC booked in earlier Financial Years claimed in current Financial Year and ITC booked in current Financial Year to be claimed in subsequent Financial Years. | Optional | Amount of ITC which has been booked in Audited Financial Statement in earlier years but claimed in GSTR 3B for the period 2020-21 or the amount of ITC booked audited financial statement of 2020-21 but which is claimed or to be claimed in subsequent financial years can be avoid from furnishing. |
| 14 | Reconciliation of ITC declared in Annual Return (GSTR9) with ITC availed on
expenses as per audited Annual Financial Statement or books of account |
Optional | Furnishing of expense wise details of ITC as per books and its reconciliation with ITC availed in GSTR 9 can be avoided. |
| Part B | Certification | Omitted | As the Form has become self- certified, so there is no need for Auditor’s certification. |
Another notification was releas3ed on the same date, Notification No. 31/2021 – Central Tax, which exempts the registered person whose aggregate turnover in the financial year is up to Rs.2cr, from filing GSTR 9.
So, in nutshell GSTR 9 is mandatory for registered person whose aggregate turnover is Rs.2 cr. Or more. GSTR 9C is mandatory for Registered person whose aggregate turnover in FY 2020-21 exceeds Rs.5cr. Fields which were made optional for financial year 2019-20 are made optional for FY 2020-21 also. Self-certified GSTR 9C is implemented from FY 2020-21. Though further clarification is necessary for the same.
Views expressed/ interpretations made are strictly personal. For any queries & feedback, reach me at sbhowmiktaxation@gmail.com.
Author Bio
if the turnover is Rs, 5cr above including gst but aggregate turn over is below 5 cr .do we need to file gstr9c.
Aggregate turnover excludes CGST, SGST and IGST.
So turnover is below 5Cr as you said. No need to file GSTR 9C
DEAR SIR,
PLEASE CLARIFY ME OUR ANNUAL TURNOVER IS 3.52 CRORES SHALL I FILE GSTR 9 BEFORE 31.12.2021 OR NOT
Yes. GSTR 9 need to file before the due date because tunover exceeds 2Cr. once you can refer the turnover limits for filing GSTR 9 and GSTR 9C
Sir, Please can you give reference to the part in notification which gives the relaxation of this optional tables for the FY 2020-21
By which notification these optional information to be given in GSTR-9 is derived.
If one person having 5 business registered in different place on single pan card and having total turnover of all business above 5cr but single having less then 2cr. what will to do in that case. Aggregate turnover is count business wise or pan card wise.
Yes, We filed an Annual Return and Audit report for ALL states. ITC availed as per audited Annual Financial statemets for the State/UT (for multi-GSTIN units Under the same PAN this should be derived from books of accounts)
Aggregate turnover has to calculate PAN card wise not as per business wise.
Please give print option icon sir .
SUPERB SIR. REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORTS and NALVALTHUKAL.
SUPERB SIR. APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORTS AND NALVALTHUKAL.