GSTR-3B Due date Extension | August 2020 | Turnover less than 5 crore

Synopsis of Extension of Due date for GSTR-3B for August 2020 having less than 5 crore turnover

CBIC released Notification No. 54/2020 – Central Tax dated, the 24th June, 2020 for extension of Due date for GSTR-3B for August 2020.

Following questions emerge out of this-:

♣ Is it extended for all the Registered Persons?

It is extended for taxpayers having an aggregate turnover of up to rupees five crore in the previous financial year.

♣ What is the extended due date?

For Taxpayers whose principal place of business is in the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, the Union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands or Lakshadweep, the extended due date shall be 1^st day of October, 2020.

For Taxpayers whose principal place of business is in the States of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand or Odisha, the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh or Delhi, the extended due date shall be 3^rd day of October, 2020.

♣ What will be the late fee if filed after the extended due date?

The late fee shall be charged after the extended due date (i.e. 2^nd day of October, 2020 or 4^th day of October, 2020, as the case may be) till the date of actual filing of return at the rates prescribed under Section 47 of the CGST Act, 2017. It shall be Twenty Rupees per day where tax payable is nil and fifty rupees per day when there is tax payable, subject to maximum of ten thousand rupees.

♣ What shall be the interest if filed after the extended due date?

The interest shall be calculated on the Net Cash Tax Liability as per Section 50 of CGST Act, 2017 after the extended due date (i.e. 2^nd day of October, 2020 or 4^th day of October, 2020, as the case may be) till the date of actual filing of return. The rate mentioned in Section 50 is 18% per annum calculated on daily basis.

In Author’s view, Interest shall be charged till the day the amount of Net Cash Tax Liability is debited from the Electronic Cash Ledger. Merely paying tax in cash without without filing 3B and offsetting the outward liability will not stop application of ineterst on the net cash tax liability.(Although Section 50 is amended but second proviso to that section is still not made operational. Still author feels that interest can be charged only on net tax liability and not on gross tax collected without giving benefit of input tax credit on inward supplies)

Author can be reached at bhavneetwithbb@gmail.com