Blanket exemption of late fee unfair to those who filed returns within due date: CBIC

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has said that a blanket exemption of late fee would be unfair towards those taxpayers who filed February, March and April GST sales returns within the extended due date of June 24.

 

As part of COVID-19 relief package announced in March, a conditional waiver of late fee had been provided for taxpayers.

 

Accordingly, for entities having turnover of more than 5 crore rupees, late fee waiver on GSTR-3B returns for the tax period February, March and April 2020 was subject to the condition that the



return is filed by June 24, 2020.

CBIC in a series of tweets said it had been explicitly clarified to stakeholders that the waiver of late fee was conditional upon filing the return of the said tax period by the due date. It said, if a taxpayer has filed his return for February 2020 on 25th June, he would need to pay late fee from 21st March onwards.

 

This was prescribed to encourage people to file returns by 24th June 2020 and balance their interest with those who do not file by the said date.