Taxpayers can clear their backlog of GSTR-1, pending from July 2017 to November 2019 without paying any late fees as the authorities have provided a one-time measure to clear backlogs. However, the late fee waiver will be applicable only till 10 January 2020, beyond which a late fee of at least Rs 50 per day will be charged for non-filing of GSTR-1, according to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC). The late fine can also go up to a maximum of Rs 10,000 per statement as per existing provisions. The CBIC has also said that the government has planned to take a number of steps if the pending GSTR-1 is not filed by the 10th of next month, which may include steps such as blocking of the E-way bill, etc.
Since, it is also important that the credit taken by the recipients in their GSTR-3B matches with the details auto-populated in their GSTR-2A, it has been communicated to the recipients to urge their suppliers to file their GSTR-1 in time.
“Data crunching shows that on an average only 60 per cent taxpayers file GSTR-1 on a timely basis, signaling the off-hand attitude of the Indian taxpayers. Non- filing of GSTR -1 leads to inconvenience for the trio – recipients tax officers, and state authorities, Rajat Mohan, Senior Partner, AMRG & Associates, told Financial Express Online.
The recipient of supplies is unable to reconcile the taxes paid by the supplier, the tax officer is unable to access the invoice-wise data for transactions and state authorities would not receive actual IGST due non-availability of the place of supply in GSTR-3B return. This is one of the reasons that the GST council has to distribute the outstanding balance on an Adhoc basis, Rajat Mohan added.
3/4 Further, the Government plans to take a number of steps if the pending GSTR-1 are not filed by 10.01.2020 such as blocking of E-way bill, etc.
— CBIC (@cbic_india) December 27, 2019
Meanwhile, amid the slow revenue growth, the government has been consistently taking steps towards boosting the revenue from GST and to make the entire taxation process smoother. This new development is also being seen in-line with increasing the transparency and smoother operability of the indirect tax structure in the country.
Source: Financial Express
