GST Returns Allowed To Be Filed In Staggered Manner To Ease Load

On Wednesday, the finance ministry staggered last dates of filing GSTR-3B, a monthly return form, and has provided three dates for different categories of taxpayers to de-stress the system.

Currently, the last date to file GSTR-3B returns is 20th of every month. However, businesses with sales less than Rs 5 crore will now be able to file it till 22nd or the 24th day of the month depending on which state they are from.

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

The big taxpayers with an annual turnover of Rs 5 crore or more, will continue to file returns by 20th of the month.

The tax filers from 15 states/union territories- 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 any late fee.

Taxpayers with less than Rs 5 crore annual turnover in 22 states of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, 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 can file returns till 24th of the month without late fee.

The Ministry said that an official notification will be issued by the competent authority soon.

Regarding the difficulties faced by taxpayers in filing the returns online, the ministry said that, "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."

"For further improving the performance of GSTN filing portal on a permanent basis, several technological measures are being worked out with Infosys and will be in place by April this year," it added.