A sole proprietor wishes to cancel their GST registration after a year of inactivity and no filed returns. The key question is whether all previous nil returns must be filed, along with any applicable late fees and penalties, before cancellation can proceed. The advice suggests that pending returns must be filed with late fees, and the PAN may be restricted from future GST registration if the department initiates cancellation.
A sole proprietor took GST no., but not filled any return till one year, now they closed business and want to cancel registration. My query is if he raise a request for GST cancellation, do they need to file all previous returns (it is NIL return in this case) and pay late fees & penalty? What if department cancels their GST by itself for not filling returns inspite of sending notices? Do they still need to pay fines? Thanks for your guidance :)
01 August 2023
Department won't cancel from retrospective date and even cancellation application cannot be filed with back date so all pending returns need to be filed with late fees.