GST Amnesty Scheme proposed in 49th GST council meeting

Arjuna (Fictional Character): Krishna, GST Council held its 49th GST Council Meeting at New Delhi on 18th Feb 2023 which was chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. What was the agenda of the meeting?

Krishna (Fictional Character): Arjuna, the GST Council Meeting held on 18th February 2023 recommended various GST amnesty schemes and certain changes in tax rates along with rationalization in Late Fees for Annual return were also proposed.

Arjuna (Fictional Character): Krishna, what are some of the major recommendations of the meeting?

Krishna (Fictional Character): Arjuna, the following are some of the recommendations of the meeting:

1. Council has adopted the report of Group of Ministers for setting up of GST Appellate Tribunal.
2. All the GST Compensation Dues will be cleared.
3. Special revenue leakage measures are to be introduced in case of certain commodities such as pan masala, gutkha, chewing tobacco.
4. GST Council has proposed NIL rate of tax on “Loose Rab" and 5% of tax on “Packaged Rab" which was taxed at 18% earlier.
5. GST Council has proposed to decrease the rate of Tax on Pencil Sharpener from 18% to 12%.
6. The Council has proposed to increase the time limit for filing application of revocation of cancellation of registration from 30 Days to 90 Days.

Arjuna (Fictional Character): Krishna, what are different slabs proposed for the Late Fees of GST Annual Return?

Krishna (Fictional Character): Arjuna, Rationalization of Late Fees has been made in respect of GST Annual Return and from FY 2022-23 the following Late Fees shall be applicable as below:

1. If Turnover is up to 5 Crore - Late Fees of Rs 50 (Rs 25 CGST and Rs 25 SGST) per day shall be applicable maximum upto 0.04 % of turnover.
2. If Turnover is between 5Crore and 20 Crore - Late Fees of Rs 100 (Rs 50 CGST and Rs 50 SGST) per day shall be applicable maximum upto 0.04 % of turnover.
3.  If Turnover is above 20 Crore - Late Fees of Rs 200 (Rs 100 CGST and Rs 100 SGST) per day shall be applicable maximum upto 0.5 % of turnover.

Arjuna (Fictional Character): Krishna, what are the different amnesty scheme proposed in the 49th GST council meeting?

Krishna (Fictional Character): Arjuna, following are the GST Amnesty scheme proposed in the 49th GST council meeting:

1. Amnesty scheme has been proposed for the cases where the application for revocation has not been made within the prescribed period earlier.
2. Amnesty scheme has also been introduced for cases where the assessment order has been issued but the return has not been filed within 30 days of order. This amnesty scheme will be available if the return is filed along with Interest and Late Fees for which the Assessment order is issued irrespective of the fact whether the appeal has been filed or decided.
3. Amnesty scheme has been introduced in respect of filing pending returns in Form GSTR-4, GSTR-9, GSTR-10 by way of conditional waiver/reduction of Late Fees.

Arjuna (Fictional Character): Krishna, what should one learn from this?

Krishna (Fictional Character): Arjuna, the detailed press release for the same can be accessed from the CBIC website. The main highlight of the Council Meeting was the introduction of different Amnesty schemes and rationalization of Late Fees for Annual Return. These are just the recommendations of the council let's wait for the relevant circulars/notifications/law amendments to have further clarity on the above recommendations.