INTRODUCTION:

On 28th day of May 2021, 43rd GST council meeting was conducted under the chairmanship of Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman via video conferencing in New Delhi to discuss various matters which includes, GST Amnesty Scheme, Relaxation in Returns Filings, exemption on GST for hand sanitisers, face masks, gloves, PPE Kits, temperature scanners and other related medical equipment.

OBJECTIVE OF AMNESTY SCHEME:

To help the Corporate Industries and small businesses, Finance Ministry notified the GST AMNESTY SCHEME FOR GSTR 3B LATE FEES in their press release to provide relief to small taxpayers. Amnesty scheme 2021 has been recommended for reducing late fee payable by small taxpayers & medium-sized taxpayers.

LATE FEE DURING PRE AMNESTY ERA:

During pre AMNESTY era the late fee for GSTR 3B is:

AMNESTY SCHEME 2021:

To provide relief to the taxpayers, late fee for non-furnishing FORM GSTR3B for the tax periods from July, 2017 to April, 2021 has been reduced / waived as under: -

APPLICABLE PERIOD:

The said amnesty scheme would be applicable for filing GSTR- 3B returns for the period July 2017 to April 2021, and the same should be furnished between 1st day of June 2021 to 31st day of August 2021 (1-6-2021 to 31-8-2021)

CONCLUSION:

So those who not furnished GSTR 3B for the period should not bother about the late fee .It was a good initiative taken by the GST council. But press release has not clarified anything about taxpayers who have already paid the late fee along with the returns for the above period.

Disclaimer:“Information contained herein is for informational purposes only and should not be used in deciding any particular case. The entire contents of this document have been prepared on the basis of relevant provisions and as per the information existing at the time of the preparation. Though utmost efforts have been made to provide authentic information, it is suggested that to have better understanding and obtaining professional advice after thorough examination of particular situation.”