GSTR 1, GSTR 3B Interest and Late Fees made simpler

Keeping in view the difficult time due to COVID 19 ,the Government of India, through a set of notifications and circulars  have brought recent changes to provide relief by way of conditional waiver of late fees and/or levy of interest on filing of GSTR 1 and GSTR 3B after the prescribed due dates. 

In this regard, we have highlighted below the recent changes that will be effective for the period April –September 2020 on this matter.

Relief by waiver of LATE FEES for delay in furnishing Form GSTR 1

For taxpayers having aggregate turnover exceeding INR 1.5 Cr during the preceding Financial Year.

For taxpayers having aggregate turnover less than or equal to INR 1.5 Cr during the preceding Financial Year.

Relief by waiver of LATE FEES for delay in furnishing Form GSTR 3B

For taxpayers having aggregate turnover exceeding INR 5 Cr during the preceding Financial Year.

For taxpayers having aggregate turnover less than or equal to INR 5 Cr during the preceding Financial Year.

 Note 1: If the registered persons fail to furnish Form GSTR-3B returns for the tax periods (till July 2020 tax period), according to the condition above but furnish the returns till the 30th day of September, 2020, the total amount of late fee payable shall be completely waived if the tax payable is NIL and shall be capped at Rs 500 per return, in case of any tax liability.

Note 2: For the taxpayers having an aggregate turnover of more than Rs 5 Cr. in the preceding financial year, who fail to furnish the return in FORM GSTR-3B for the months of May, 2020 to July, 2020, by the due date but furnish the said return till the 30th day of September, 2020, the total amount of late fee shall be capped at Rs 500 per return and shall stand fully waived for those taxpayers where the total amount of tax payable in the said return is Nil.

Note 3: Taxpayers who are yet to file Form any month(s) from July, 2017 till Jan., 2020, can now file Form GSTR-3B from 1st July, 2020 till 30th Sept., 2020, without any late fee, for those months in which they did not have any tax liability. However, for the months they had a tax liability, their late fee would be capped at Rs 500 per return 

Relief by waiver of INTEREST for delay in furnishing Form GSTR 3B

For taxpayers having aggregate turnover exceeding INR 5 Cr during the preceding Financial Year.

For taxpayers having aggregate turnover less than or equal to INR 5 Cr during the preceding Financial Year.

 Category A states- Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep

Category B states- Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh, Delhi.