Summary of CBIC notifications dated 24th June 2020 on GST extensions

The CBIC issued several GST notifications on 24th June 2020. Here’s the synopsis of these notifications. 

GST amnesty for taxpayers who haven’t filed GSTR-3B for tax periods between July 2017 and January 2020 is notified as per the announcement made earlier at the 40th GST Council meeting. The CBIC, in the CGST notification no. 52/2020 dated 24th June 2020, notified that Nil GSTR-3B for the above period could be filed without late fee between 1st July 2020 and 30th September 2020. Further, for the rest of the taxpayers, it shall be restricted to a maximum of Rs 250 per return per month per act.

A late fee waiver has further pushed the last dates for GSTR-1 from March to June 2020 from 30th June 2020. The new deadlines for monthly filing without late fee charge will be 10th, 24th, 28th July 2020 and 5th August 2020 from March to June 2020 respectively. The last date for quarterly GSTR-1 shall be 17th July and 3rd August 2020 for quarters January-March 2020 and April-June 2020 respectively.

Large taxpayers, with an annual turnover of more than Rs 5 crore in the previous financial year, have not been notified any further extension for filing GSTR-3B from February to May 2020. Hence, no interest would have been charged for the first fifteen days from the respective due dates of February to April 2020, i.e. 20th of the following month respectively. After that, interest at a reduced rate of 9% p.a. would have been charged on any further delay in GST payments until 24th June 2020.

Also, the late fee would not have been charged until 24th June 2020 for furnishing their pending GSTR-3B from February 2020 to April 2020. The next deadline for them to watch out for is 27th June 2020 to file GSTR-3B of May 2020, without late fee or interest. No extension or relief has been called out for any other months. 

Also Read: Kerala to Conduct Second Level Verification of New GST Registrations

Taxpayers with an annual aggregate turnover of up to Rs 5 crore in the last financial year, originally have their due date staggered as 22nd# or 24th## of its next month, depending on the state/UT from which they operate their principal place of business. May 2020 falls in the exception with its due date staggered as 12th# or 14th## July 2020. Further, August 2020 also falls in the exception with the due date yesterday extended up to 1st# or 3rd## October 2020. 

The CBIC has also removed the bifurcation of taxpayers based on annual turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore and between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 5 crore. Accordingly, as per the 40th GST Council meeting, the late fee and the interest waiver shall continue up to September 2020 as per yesterday’s CBIC notification as given below:

^CGST notification dated 3rd April 2020 based on turnover: Category X denotes the taxpayers with annual aggregate turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore, and category Y are taxpayers with annual aggregate turnover between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 5 crore, in the previous financial year.

^^CGST notification dated 24th June 2020 based on state/UT: Taxpayers are now classified based on the state/UTs in which their principal place of business is situated as follows:

#Category A:  Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, the UT of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, and Lakshadweep.

##Category B: Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand or Odisha or the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh and New Delhi. 

*After that, interest at 9% p.a. will apply till 30th September 2020.

Circular no. 141/2020 has clarified that if any taxpayer files after the above dates, then interest will still apply in a staggered manner as given above instead of a flat 18% p.a from the due date.

Apart from giving effect to the announcements of the recent GST Council meeting, several provisions of the Finance Act 2020 were notified. The merger of UT of Dadar and Nagar Haveli with Daman and Diu and demerger of Jammu & Kashmir from Ladakh have been incorporated in the GST Acts

The timeline to receive back the goods sent out for job work can be now extended by a further one year/three years, as the case may be, with the permission of the authorities. The CBIC gets extended time limit of five years from the date of inception of GST to notify any circulars or orders under the GST Acts.

The nominal rate of 3% (CGST) and 3% (SGST/UTGST) is notified in the rules for service providers opting for the composition scheme under section 10(2A) of CGST Act, i.e. (equivalent to notification no. 2/2019-Central Tax (Rate) dated 7th March 2020).

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