GST Returns Filing And Registration Deadlines Extended
Transition issues and technology troubles force GST Council to extend GST filing dates.
In an acknowledgement of the difficulties faced in transitioning to the Goods and Services Tax, by taxpayers and by the technology systems meant to support tax filing, the GST Council has decided to extend filing deadlines.
These are early days for both taxpayers and the tax administration systems under GST, said Badri Narayanan, partner at tax law firm Lakshmikumaran & Sridaran, when commenting on the deadline extensions to BloombergQuint.
There have been system glitches that are coming out due to a large user base accessing the system. At the same time, there have been many mistakes during the process by the assessees that has resulted in many terminations and incomplete submissions. This extension would help both sides work out a way of handling the process.Badri Narayanan, Partner, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan
The GST Council, that met in Hyderabad on Saturday, has decided that GSTR-3B will continue to filed for the months of August to December. But the Council has given extra time of up to a few months for filing of certain forms for the month of July 2017.
For taxpayers with aggregate turnover of more than Rs 100 crore:
GSTR-1: Revised due date - October 3, 2017
For others
GSTR-1: Revised due date - October 10 , 2017
GSTR-2: Revised due date - October 31, 2017
GSTR-3: Revised due date - November 10, 2017
No change has been made to the deadline of 18 October, 2017 for GSTR-4. This form has to be filed for the July -September 2017 period. The media statement issued by the government said the GST Council has decided that table 4 under GSTR-4 is not to be filled for the quarter, and that the requirement of GSTR-4A for this quarter has been dispensed with.
GSTR-6: Revised due date - October 13, 2017
The due date for submission of the GST TRAN-1 form has been extended by one month to October 31, 2017, the media statement added.
The registration of persons liable to deduct tax at source and collect tax at source will commence from 18 September, 2017. The date from which the tax will be deducted or collected has yet to be notified.
“Extending the deadline for filing the GSTR-1 for July 2017 by another one month is indeed a welcome step,” said Pratik Jain, partner and indirect tax leader at PwC India. This gives much needed time to the industry as well as GSTN (GST Network) to sort out the system and process related issues, he added.
Also the fact that the schedule for filing the detailed returns for August 2017 onwards has not been laid out for now does indicate that the government wants to adopt a cautious approach in this regard. If need be, It won’t be surprising if due date for filing of detailed returns is deferred further, given that summary return in Form 3B will now continue to be applicable till December 2017 and GST would be collected on a monthly basis.Pratik Jain, Partner, Indirect Tax Leader, PwC
Composition Scheme
A registered taxpayer, whether migrated from the earlier regime or a new regsitration, can opt for the composition scheme till 30 September, 2017. Such a taxpayer will be permitted to avail benefits of the scheme starting 1 October, 2017.
