GST returns – Due dates conundrum

[CA Venkataprasad]

Introduction:

Extending the due dates for various compliances is one of the reliefs extended by the Government to support the struggling taxpayers due to Covid-19 crisis. However, the extensions are not straight forwarded, it comes with conditions and criteria. Hence it is important to carefully check the relevant conditions and make the compliance. We have attempted to summarise the GST returns compliance requirements for the Month of February 2020 to August 2020.

GSTR-3B

Turnover in Pre. FY	Month	Due Date	No late fees if filed before (note below)	No Interest till	Interest of 9% from & till	Interest @ 18% from	Ref of Notification
> 5 Cr	Feb’20	20-03-2020	24-06-2020	04-04-2020	05.04.2020 to 24.06.2020	25-06-2020	For interest - Notification No. 51/2020 - CT dated 24.06.2020 For Late fee - Notification No. 52/2020 dated 24.06.2020
	Mar’20	20-04-2020	24-06-2020	05-05-2020	06.05.2020 to 24.06.2020	25-06-2020
	Apr’20	20-05-2020	24-06-2020	04-06-2020	05.06.2020 to 24.06.2020	25-06-2020
	May'20	27-06-2020	No waiver	NA		28-06-2020	36/2020 - CT dated 03-04-2020
	Jun'20	20-07-2020				21-07-2020	NA
	Jul'20	20-08-2020				21-08-2020
	Aug'20	20-09-2020				21-09-2020
Turnover in Pre. FY	Month	Due Date	No late fees if file before (see note below)	No Interest till	Interest of 9% from & till	Interest @ 18% from	Ref of Notification
≤ 5 Cr & in Group A States	Feb’20	22-03-2020	30-06-2020	30-06-2020	30-09-2020	01-10-2020	For interest - Notification No. 51/2020 - CT dated 24.06.2020 For Late fee - Notification No. 52/2020 dated 24.06.2020
	Mar’20	22-04-2020	03-07-2020	03-07-2020	30-09-2020	01-10-2020
	Apr’20	22-05-2020	06-07-2020	06-07-2020	30-09-2020	01-10-2020
	May'20	12-07-2020	12-09-2020	12-09-2020	30-09-2020	01-10-2020
	Jun'20	22-07-2020	23-09-2020	23-09-2020	30-09-2020	01-10-2020
	Jul'20	22-08-2020	27-09-2020	27-09-2020	30-09-2020	01-10-2020
	Aug'20	01-10-2020	NA			02-10-2020	54/2020 - CT dt. 24.06.2020
≤ 5 Cr & in Group B States	Feb’20	24-03-2020	30-06-2020	30-06-2020	30-09-2020	01-10-2020	For interest - Notification No. 51/2020 - CT dated 24.06.2020 For Late fee - Notification No. 52/2020 dated 24.06.2020
	Mar’20	24-04-2020	05-07-2020	05-07-2020	30-09-2020	01-10-2020
	Apr’20	24-05-2020	09-07-2020	09-07-2020	30-09-2020	01-10-2020
	May'20	14-07-2020	15-09-2020	15-09-2020	30-09-2020	01-10-2020
	Jun'20	24-07-2020	25-09-2020	25-09-2020	30-09-2020	01-10-2020
	Jul'20	24-08-2020	29-09-2020	29-06-2020	30-09-2020	01-10-2020
	Aug'20	03-10-2020	NA			04-10-2020	54/2020 - CT dt. 24.06.2020
Group A States	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
Group B States	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,
Note: 1. Maximum Late fees is ₹ 500/- i.e. (250+250) per return if it is filed after the aforesaid date but filed before 30-09-2020 2. Late is 'Nil' if the tax payable is 'Nil'							57/2020-C.T dated 30.06.2020

 

Form	Periodicity	Period	Due Date	No late fees if filed before	Ref of Notification
GSTR-1	Monthly	Mar’20	11-04-2020	10-07-2020	53/2020 - CT dt. 24.06-2020
		Apr’20	11-05-2020	24-07-2020
		May'20	11-06-2020	28-07-2020
		Jun'20	11-07-2020	05-08-2020
		Jul'20	11-08-2020	NA
		Aug'20	11-09-2020
	Quarterly	January to March, 2020	30-04-2020	17-07-2020
		April to June, 2020	31-07-2020	03-08-2020
GSTR 4	Annual	FY 19-20	31-08-2020	No waiver	59/2020 dated 13.07.20
GSTR - 5	Monthly	March 2020 to July 2020	31-08-2020	NA	35/2020 - CT dated 03-04-2020
GSTR - 6
GSTR - 7
GSTR - 8
GSTR - 9	Annual	18-19	31-12-2019	30-09-2020	41/2020- C.T dated 05.05.2020
GSTR - 9C	Annual	18-19	31-12-2019	30-09-2020

The following worth noting:

• The due dates are not extended except few cases, the reliefs are only for late fee waiver or reduced liability of the interest
• The late fee waivers & interest concessions are based on the Turnover in Preceding Year & not current year. For February and March 2020, the Turnover of the FY 2018-19 shall be seen whereas, for April, 2020 onwards, the Turnover of FY 2019-20 shall be seen. Due to change of the base year, it may be possible that the same taxpayer would be changing the category of the taxpayers i.e. Larger tax payers to small tax payers and vice-versa.
• Aggregate Turnover to be seen (i.e. Pan India Basis and not state wise), which includes all types of Turnover viz., exempted, 
• NIL Late fee in case of NIL Return
• Mere Deposit of Tax is not sufficient. Hence, actual filing of the return with setting off the liability only enables the aforesaid benefits

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