In order to avoid the last minute rush of return filers, the government has decided to allow taxpayers to file their GSTR-3B returns in a staggered manner. The government has taken this initiative in wake of the difficulties faced by trade and industry in filing of returns.

"Now GST taxpayers can file their GSTR-3B returns in a staggered manner," Finance Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Currently, the last date of filing GSTR-3B returns for every taxpayer is 20th of every month. Under the new system, big taxpayers with annual turnover of Rs 5 crore or more would be able to file returns on 20th of every month. As a result, around 8 lakh regular taxpayers would have the last date of GSTR-3B filing as 20th of every month without late fees.

The taxpayers having annual turnover below Rs 5 crore in previous financial year will be divided further in two categories.

The tax filers from 15 States/ UTs, i.e., Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, will now have the last date of filing GSTR-3B returns as 22nd of the month without late fees. This category would have around 49 lakh tax filers.

For the remaining 46 lakh taxpayers from the 22 States/UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, Laddakh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha having annual turnover below Rs 5 crore in previous financial year, will have the last date of filing the GSTR-3B as 24th of the month without late fees.

The Finance Ministry said that the necessary notification in this regard would be issued later by the competent authority.

The ministry further said that it has also taken a note of difficulties and concerns expressed by the taxpayers regarding filing of GSTR-3B and other returns. "The matter has been discussed by the GSTN with Infosys, the Managed Service Provider, which has come out with above solution to de-stress the process as a temporary but immediate measure," it added.

In a bid to further improve the performance of GSTN filing portal on permanent basis, several technological measures are being worked out with Infosys and will be in place by April 2020, it added.

By Chitranjan Kumar

Published On : 22-01-2020

Source : Business Today