GST Due Dates Extended Due To Covid-19 Impact On India

Amid a complete nationwide lockdown to counter the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 (Corona Virus), the Indian Finance Ministry led GST council announced several relaxations for filing annual Goods & Services Tax (GST) returns.

The deadline for GSTR-3B filing for businesses was extended as below.

The governmentdeclared a complete waiver of interest, late fee, or penalties if the returns are furnishing by the new extended dates. Being unable to file the return within the stipulated period, would attract an interest of @9% instead of 18% up to 30thSeptember 2020.

Businesses with turnover of more than Rs 1.5 crores have to file GSTR-1 monthly whereas businesses with turnover less than that have the option to file it quarterly. The monthly tax payers usually have to file GSTR-1 by the 11th of every month for the previous month. For monthly tax payers, the filing of GSTR-1 form was revised as follows;

For quarterly tax payers, the GSTR-1 usually needs to be filled within the first month of the next quarter. However, some extensions were allowed to help business cope amidst the COVID-19.

The due date for filing GSTR-4 for FY 2019-20 was extended to 15thJuly. The revised date for CMP-08 for Jan-March 2020 quarter was 15thJuly 2020.

Composition taxpayers who wanted to opt for the scheme were required to file the CMP-02 for FY 2020-21 by 31stMarch 2020. The date however was extended to 30thJune 2020.

E-Way bills whose expiry date was within 20th March to 15th of April 2020 will now be valid till the 31stof August 2020.Given that the country is in the grip of the pandemic, the government has reduced the time pressure on taxpayers by extending the GST due dates and exempting the late fees/interest/ penalties for the last quarter (2019-20).Ready to make the most of your money? Start your tax planning journey now!

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