JOIN USWith fewer taxpayers filing GST returns, the government on Tuesday waived the penalty for August and September to encourage businesses to comply with the new tax regime.
“To facilitate taxpayers, late fee on filing of GSTR-3B for Aug&Sept has been waived. Late fee paid will be credited back to taxpayer ledger,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced on Twitter.
Demand
The decision followed demand from businesses to waive the penalty for delay in filing GSTR-3B returns. The government had announced a similar waiver in July, when the new indirect tax regime came into force.
The GST law provides for a late fee of Rs 100 a day on Central GST (CGST) and a similar amount on State GST (SGST) in case of delay in filing returns and payment of taxes.
According to government data, Rs 92,150 crore was collected under Goods and Services Tax in September from 42.91 lakh businesses.
Of this, Rs 14,042 crore is on account of Central GST, while State GST is to the tune of Rs 21,172 crore, the Finance ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Integrated GST collection stood at Rs 48,948 crore, of which Rs 23,951 crore was on account of imports.
According to government data, 55.87 lakh GSTR-3B returns were filed for July, 51.37 lakh for August and over 42 lakh for September.
Preliminary returns for GSTR-3B for a month is filed on the 20th day of the next month after paying due taxes.