GST Amnesty Scheme notified by government

The government has notified amnesty scheme for small businesses, non-filers of final returns, and taxpayers whose Goods and Services Tax (GST) registration has been cancelled.

According to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) notification, they can apply for revocation of cancelled registration by June 30, after paying due taxes, interest and penalty, CBIC said in a notification.

The apex body has made amendments to the Central GST Act, specifying that businesses whose registration have been cancelled on or before December 31, 2022, and who have failed to apply for revocation of cancellation within the specified period can do so by June 30.

Key Highlights

• GST returns from 2017-18 to 2021-22 can be filed with a maximum late fee of Rs 20,000
• For this, all old returns have to be filed by 30th June 2023.
• After that full penalty will be payable on filing the return.
• CBIC has capped the late fee at Rs 1,000 for registered persons who fail to furnish the final return in Form GSTR-10 by the due date, provided they furnish the said returns by June 30.
• GSTR-10 is a final return that needs to be filed by taxpayers who have decided to cancel their GST registration.
• Besides, in a separate notification, the CBIC has also rationalised late fee for delayed filing of annual return in (Form GSTR-9) for FY 2022-23 onwards, for small businesses with turnover up to Rs 20 crore.
• Those with an aggregate turnover of up to Rs 5 crore in the said financial year would be charged late fee of Rs 50 per day, subject to a maximum of an amount calculated at 0.04 per cent of his turnover.
• Registered persons having an aggregate turnover of between Rs 5-20 crore in the said fiscal would be liable to pay late fee of Rs 100 per day, subject to a maximum of an amount calculated at 0.04 per cent of his turnover.
• Late fees for filing old returns have also been waived for composition taxpayers. Such taxpayers can now file all returns from July 2017 to March 2022 with a late fee of only Rs 500. The entire late fee has been waived if there is no tax liability.
• This scheme is also valid till June 30, 2023.

However, the revocation can be applied for only after the assessee furnishes the returns due up to the effective date of cancellation of registration and after paying due taxes in terms of such returns, along with interest, penalty and late fees, the notification said.

No further extension for filing application for revocation of cancellation of registration shall be available in such cases, according to the finance ministry notification, it noted.

Effective date: The notification to this effect was issued on April 1, 2023.

Source: Various notifications issued

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