GST Amnesty Scheme 2021 & Late Fee Relaxations

[CSLalit Rajput]

The 43^rd GST Council met under the Chairmanship of Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman via video conferencing on Friday, 28^th day of May, 2021 via video conferencing in New Delhi to discuss various matters which includes, GST Amnesty Scheme, Relaxation in Returns Filings, exemption on GST for hand sanitisers, face masks, gloves, PPE Kits, temperature scanners and other related medical equipment.

To help the Corporate Industries and small businesses, Finance Ministry notified the GST AMNESTY SCHEME FOR GSTR 3B LATE FEES in their press release to provide relief to small taxpayers. Amnesty scheme 2021 has been recommended for reducing late fee payable by small taxpayers & medium-sized taxpayers. Amnesty Scheme Recommended to Benefit around 89% GST Taxpayers at present.

Taxpayers can now file their pending returns without any high penalty and avail the benefits of this GST Amnesty scheme with reduced late fees.

Relaxation Period:

Tax periods from July, 2017 to April, 2021. It means, Taxpayers can avail the benefits of this Amnesty Scheme on all GSTR 3B returns pending since July 2017 till April 2021. This was a much needed relief from the Department.

Relaxation given in Late – Fee Payment:

Late Fee has been reduced / waived as under: -

Sl.	Return Type (GSTR – 3B)	Relaxation in Late Fee
1.	In case of Nil Return (No tax liability for the said tax periods)	Maximum Late fee capped: ₹ 500/- (₹ 250- each for CGST & SGST) per return
2.	In case of Return is not Nil (Tax liability is there for the said tax periods)	Maximum Late fee capped: ₹ 1,000/- (₹ 500- each for CGST & SGST) per return

Time Period to Avail GST Amnesty Scheme 2021:

GSTR – 3B shall be filed between 1.06.2021 to 31 August, 2021 to avail the benefit of reduced rate of late fees. It means that the pending GSTR 3B returns for the period, July, 2017 to April, 2021 shall be filed on or before 31^st August, 2021.

Relaxation Effective w.e.f. 01.06.2021

1. Relaxation in Late fees for Return Filings of GSTR 3 B and GSTR 1

Rationalization of late fee leviable on account of delay in furnishing return in FORM GSTR-3B and FORM GSTR-1 for Prospective tax period (June, 2021 onwards).

To reduce burden of late fee on taxpayers, the late fee is being capped, as follows:

Taxpayer’s category	Relaxations in Late Fees
1. Taxpayers having nil tax Liability (Nil Return)	₹ 500/- (₹ 250/- each for CGST & SGST) per return
2. For Taxpayers having Tax Liability:
a) For taxpayers having aggregate turnover in preceding FY upto  ₹ 1.5 crores	₹ 2000/- (₹ 1000/- each for CGST & SGST) per return
b) For taxpayers having aggregate turnover in preceding FY between ₹ 1.5 crores to ₹ 5 crores	₹ 5000/- (₹ 2500/- each for CGST & SGST) per return
c) For taxpayers having aggregate turnover in preceding FY above Rs.  5 crores	₹ 10000/- (₹ 5000/- each for CGST & SGST) per return

2. Relaxation in Late fees for Return Filings of GSTR 4

Rationalization of late fee leviable on account of delay in furnishing return in FORM GSTR-4 by composition taxpayers for prospective tax periods (FY 21-22 onwards).

Taxpayer’s category	Relaxations in Late Fees
1. Taxpayers having nil tax Liability (Nil Return)	₹ 500/- (₹ 250/- each for CGST & SGST) per return
c) For Other Taxpayers	₹ 2000/- (₹ 1000/- each for CGST & SGST) per return

3. Relaxation in availment of ITC under GST

Compliance related relief for GST Taxpayers Amendment in Rule 36(4) of CGST Rules Relaxation in availment of Input Tax Credit (ITC)

Relaxation: 105% cap on availment of ITC to be applicable on cumulative basis of tax periods April, May and June 2021, to be applied in the return GSTR – 3B for the Tax Period June, 2021.

4. Relaxation in Late fees for Return Filings of GSTR 7

Rationalization of late fee leviable on account of delay in furnishing return in FORM GSTR-7 by Tax Deductors at Source for prospective tax periods (June, 2021 onwards).

Relaxation Given:

Filing Particulars	Relaxations
Late Fee payable for delayed furnishing of Return in Form GSTR – 7	₹ 50 Per day (₹ 25/- each CGST & SGST) per return
Maximum amount of Late Fee Capped	₹ 2000/- (₹ 1000/- each for CGST & SGST) per return