Government Extends Due Date for Filing GSTR-9/9C

Earlier, the due date for filing GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C for FY 2017-18 was 30 November 2019; for FY 2018-19, the due date was 31 December 2019. However, on Thursday 14 November 2019, the government announced an extension for both FY 2017-18 and FY 2018-19.

The due date for filing GSTR-9 (Annual Return) as well as the Form GSTR-9C (Reconciliation Statement) has been revised to 31 December 2019 for FY 2017-18 and 31 March 2020 for FY 2018-19.

On Thursday, even the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has notified certain amendments with respect to simplification of forms GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C. CBIC has made several fields of these forms as ‘optional’.

The changes made to the Form GSTR-9 are as follows:

Table – 4 & 5 (Details concerning Outward Supply)

• A taxpayer need not report credit notes/debit notes/amendments separately in tables 4I, 4J 4K, and 4L. He or she can fill the net values in the tables 4B to 4E.
• A taxpayer need not report credit notes/debit notes/amendments separately in tables 5H, 5I, 5J, and 5KJ. He or she can use tables 5A to 5F to fill in the net values.
• For tables 5D (exempted supply), 5E (nil rated supply), 5F (non-GST supply), a single figure can be reported in table 5D against “exempted”.

Table 6 – (Details about ITC which was availed during the FY)

• A taxpayer can use tables 6B to 6E to report the complete ITC under the “inputs” row only.

Table 7 – (Details concerning ITC Reversal)

• A taxpayer can report details of tables 7A to 7E under table 7H (Other Reversal). Nevertheless, TRAN I & II reversal needs to be reported, respectively.

Table 8 – (Other ITC-related details)

• There is no need to report Table 8A to 8D in GSTR-9 (Reconciliation of GSTR 2A with GSTR 3B). However, the same needs to be uploaded in PDF format in GSTR-9C with a self-attestation of the taxpayer and there is no need for CA certification.
• Table 12,13, 15, 16, 17, and 18 (including HSN summary) has been made optional.

The changes made to the Form GSTR-9C are as follows:

• All of the details concerning turnover adjustments can be reported using Table 5O. Reporting details of turnover adjustments in table 5B to 5N has been made optional.
• Tables 12B, 12C and 14 (concerning ITC reconciliation) has been made optional.
• Minor changes have been incorporated in the declaration section too.

CBIC anticipates that the simplification of forms and the extension of deadlines will help GST taxpayers to complete their annual return filing along with the reconciliation statement in time.

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