CBIC Notifies Quarterly GSTR-3B for Small Taxpayers

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) released new notifications last week prescribing the process for quarterly filing of GSTR-3B, available to small taxpayers registered under GST. Taxpayers with a turnover of up to Rs.5 crore in the previous financial year can opt to file the GSTR-3B return every quarter from 1st January 2021, as against submitting the same monthly, which has been the procedure followed until now.

A registered person who wishes to file the GSTR-3B quarterly can opt for the same on the common GST portal, between the 1st day of the second month of the preceding quarter and until the last day of the first month of the said quarter for which this option is being exercised. 

Once the registered person has chosen his preference on the GST portal, he will need to continue furnishing his returns quarterly for all future tax periods, unless he becomes ineligible to file quarterly returns, or he opts to file his returns monthly on the GST portal. If a registered person has his previous GSTR-3B return pending for filing, which was due on the date of exercising this option, he will not be eligible to opt for the quarterly filing option of GSTR-3B returns.

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Certain registered persons who have furnished their GSTR-3B return for October 2020 by 30th November 2020, shall be deemed to have opted for monthly or quarterly filing as detailed below:  

1. Registered persons who have an aggregate turnover of up to Rs.1.5 crore and have furnished their GSTR-1 returns quarterly in the current financial year, will be deemed to be quarterly GSTR-3B filers.
2. Registered persons who have an aggregate turnover of up to Rs.1.5 crore and have furnished their GSTR-1 returns monthly in the current financial year, will be deemed to be monthly GSTR-3B filers.
3. Registered persons who have an aggregate turnover exceeding Rs.1.5 crore and up to Rs.5 crore in the preceding financial year will be deemed to be quarterly return filers.

When it comes to the payment of taxes, those registered persons who have opted to file their GSTR-3B returns quarterly still need to pay their taxes due every month. This should be done by depositing an amount in the electronic cash ledger that is equivalent to 35% of the tax liability paid in the previous quarter, in cases where the GSTR-3B has been furnished quarterly. In cases where the GSTR-3B has been furnished monthly, then the amount that needs to be deposited will be equivalent to the total tax liability paid in return for the last month of the preceding quarter. 

The amount needs to be deposited using the Form GST PMT-06 by the 25th of the month following the month for which the payment is due, i.e. the first and second months of the quarter. In certain instances, no amount may be required to be deposited. 

1. In the first month of the quarter, where the balance in the electronic cash or credit ledger is adequate for the tax liability of the said month, or in cases where the tax liability is nil.
2. In the second month of the quarter, where the balance in the electronic cash or credit ledger is adequate for the cumulative tax liability of the first and second months of the quarter, or where the tax liability is nil.

The due dates filing GSTR-3B for quarterly filers will be the 22nd and the 24th of the month succeeding the quarter for which the return is being filed. For the states and Union Territories of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the due date will be the 22nd of the month following the quarter. 

For the states and Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan,  Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha, the due date will be the 24th of the month following the quarter.

For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at athena.rebello@cleartax.in