Amid the second wave of coronavirus pandemic, the Centre on Sunday announced a slew of relief measures for taxpayers under GST Law. The government’s decision came a day after the GST collection has set a new high at Rs 1.41 lakh crore for April.
Under the reduction in rate of interest, the Ministry of Finance has rolled out concessional rates of interest in lieu of the normal rate of interest of 18% per annum for delayed tax payments.
Under a waiver of late fee, registered persons having aggregate turnover above Rs 5 crore, late fee has been waived for 15 days in respect of returns in FORM GSTR-3B furnished beyond the due date. For registered persons having aggregate turnover up to Rs 5 crore, late fee waived for 30 days in respect of the returns in FORM GSTR-3B furnished beyond the due date for tax periods March, 2021 and April, 2021.
The government has announced extension of due date for filing GSTR-1, IFF, GSTR-4 and ITC-04. Moreover, certain amendments have also been announced in CGST Rules apart from a relaxation in availing of ITC and an Extension in statutory time limits under section 168A of the CGST Act.
For registered persons having aggregate turnover above Rs 5 crore, a lower rate of interest of 9 per cent for the first 15 days from the due date of payment of tax and 18 per cent thereafter, for the tax payable for tax periods March 2021 and April 2021, payable in April 2021 and May 2021 respectively, has been notified. For registered persons having aggregate turnover up to Rs 5 crore, the ministry has announced nil rate of interest for the first 15 days from the due date of payment of tax, 9 per cent for the next 15 days, and 18 per cent thereafter, for both normal taxpayers and those under QRMP scheme, for the tax payable for the periods March 2021 and April 2021, payable in April 2021 and May 2021 respectively.
For registered persons who have opted to pay tax under the Composition scheme, nil rate of interest for first 15 days from the due date of payment of tax and 9 per cent for the next 15 days, and 18 per cent thereafter has been notified for the tax payable for the quarter ending 31st March, 2021, payable in April 2021.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on May 1 issued the notification, saying that these relaxations come into effect from April 18.
