Compliance related Relaxations under GST during lockdown

[Hemant Gupta]

Under GST Act

Ministry of Finance through Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs have notified, certain notifications vide number 30/2020 to 36/2020 dated 03^rd April,2020 giving relaxation in lieu of upcoming GST Compliances. Same are summarized below for ease of reference:

Notification 30/2020-CT:	Relaxation to Composition Taxpayers & ITC u/r 36(4)
Notification 34/2020-CT:	Relaxation to Composition Taxpayers in filing compliances

• Extension in Due Dates related to Composition Taxpayers 

Matter	Applicable Form	New Due Date
Opting for composition scheme for Financial Year 2020-2021	CMP-02	30th June,2020
Payment of Input Tax Credit on value of closing stock because of opting in composition	ITC-03	31st July,2020

• Applicability of Rule 36(4) of CGST Rules,2017

The application of Rule 36(4) in lieu of calculation of eligible & claimable Input Tax Credit shall be done cumulatively for the months of February,2020 to September,2020 and accordingly necessary effect shall be given while filing GSTR-3B of September,2019.

• Extension in Due Dates related to filing of compliances

Matter	Applicable Form	New Due Date
Filing of Composition Annual Return for FY 2019-2020	GSTR-4	15th July,2020
Payment of Composition Tax for quarter ending 31st March,2020	CMP-08	07th July,2020

 

Notification 31/2020-CT:	Relaxation in Interest payable on delayed payment of GST
Notification 32/2020-CT:	Relaxation in late fees payable on delayed filing of GSTR-3B

 

• About above 2 notifications, at the outset we need to mention that original due dates of filing of GSTR-3B has not been extended for the months of February,20 to April,20. It is only conditional relaxation in Interest and late fees which shall be allowed by government, only if, GSTR-3B for the months of February,20 to April,20 are filed by the dates given in the notification. In case GSTR-3B is not filed by given dates Interest @ 18% shall be calculated from the original due date and late fees shall also be calculated from the original due date. Same is summarized in the succeeding pages:

 

Category	Applicable on	Relaxation	Conditions
Taxpayers having aggregate turnover more than ₹ 5 Cr in previous F.Y.	GSTR-3B for: February,20 March,20 April,20	Interest shall be NIL, if GSTR-3B filed within 15 days from original due date after 15 days interest will be charged @9% p.a. Total Late fees shall be waived	GSTR-3B shall be filed as per prescribed schedule below: Month Date February,2020 24.06.2020 March,2020 April, 2020
Taxpayers having aggregate turnover more than ₹ 1.5 Cr and upto ₹ 5 Cr in previous F.Y.	GSTR-3B for: February,20 March,20 April,20	Interest shall be NIL, if GSTR-3B is filed within prescribed schedule Total Late fees shall be waived	GSTR-3B shall be filed as per prescribed schedule below: Month Date February,2020 29.06.2020 March,2020 April, 2020 30.06.2020
Taxpayers having aggregate upto ₹ 1.5 Cr in previous F.Y.	GSTR-3B for: February,20 March,20 April,20	Interest shall be NIL, if GSTR-3B is filed within prescribed schedule. Total Late fees shall be waive	GSTR-3B shall be filed as per prescribed schedule below: Month Date February,2020 30.06.2020 March,2020 03.07.2020 April, 2020 06.07.2020

Furthermore, an illustration for category 1 taxpayers’ is given below which has been exactly picked up from Circular No. 136/06/2020-GST dated 03.04.2020. In illustration, GSTR-3B for March,2020 is considered, wherein due date will be 20.04.2020

Date of filing GSTR-3B	No. of days of delay	Relief Eligible?	Interest
02.05.2020	11	Yes	Zero interest
20.05.2020	30	Yes	Zero interest for 15 days + interest rate @9% p.a. for 15 days
20.06.2020	61	Yes	Zero interest for 15 days + interest rate @9% p.a. for 46 days
24.06.2020	65	Yes	Zero interest for 15 days + interest rate @9% p.a. for 50 days
30.06.2020	71	No	Interest rate @18% p.a. for 71 days (i.e. no benefit of Reduced interest)

 

Notification 33/2020-CT:

Relaxation in late fees payable on delayed filing of GSTR-1

 

Category	Applicable on	Relaxation	Conditions
Taxpayers having aggregate turnover more than ₹ 1.50 Cr in previous F.Y. (Monthly Filers)	GSTR-1 for: March,20 April,20 May,20	Total Late fees shall be waived	GSTR-1 shall be filed on or before 30th June,2020
Taxpayers having aggregate upto ₹ 1.5 Cr in previous F.Y. (Quarterly Filers)	GSTR-1 for quarter ending March,2020	Total Late fees shall be waived	GSTR-1 shall be filed on or before 30th June,2020

 

Notification 35/2020-CT:

General Relaxation with some exceptions

The notification states that wherever any time limit or due date for any sort of compliances like, submission of reply, passing of order, issuance of notice, completion of any proceedings, filing of appeal etc. is falling due between 20^th March,2020 to 29^th June,2020, then all such dates shall be extended upto 30^th June,2020. But the extension shall not apply to following: -

Exceptions
Chapter-IV of the Act compliances	Time and Value of supply
Section 10(3)	Date on which turnover exceeds the limit prescribed under composition
Section-25	Time limit for applying registration under the Act.
Section-27	Registration time limit allowed to casual traders
Section-31	Time limit for issuance of Tax invoice
Section-37	Filing details outward supplies (because this has been separately dealt)
Section-47	Levy of late fees (because this has been separately dealt)
Section-50	Charging of Interest (because this has been separately dealt)
Section-69	Power to Arrest
Section-90	Liability of Partners of firm to pay taxes
Section-122	Levy pf Penalties
Section-129	Detention of Goods and Vehicles carrying the goods in transit
Section-39	Filing of Returns, however this shall not apply to: GSTR-7 (Return of TDS/TCS) GSTR-6 (Return by Input Service Distributor) GSTR-5 (Return by registered Non-resident taxable person)
Section-68	Inspection of Goods in movement
Rules made under all the above sections

• Extension of E-way bill validity

Further, in the same notification, it has been stated that all the E-way bills that are expiring between 20.03.2020 to 15.04.2020 shall be valid upto 30.04.2020.

Notification 36/2020-CT:

Extension of Due date for GSTR-3B of May,2020

 

Category Applicable on New Due Date Taxpayers having aggregate turnover more than ` 5 Cr in previous F.Y. All States 27th June,2020 Taxpayers having aggregate turnover upto ` 5 Cr in previous F.Y. 14 States / UT: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, the UT of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep 12th July ,2020 Taxpayers having aggregate turnover upto ` 5 Cr in previous F.Y. 22 States / UT: Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh, Delhi 14th July, 2020