COVID-19 Relief Measures in GST

The Government has taken a pro-active approach in announcing COVID-19 Relief Measures in GST and easing out the compliance burden, which is a much-needed relief in the middle of the crisis that the world is facing currently.

The government has notified various relief measures undertaken with respect to GST Compliances. The details are elaborated here:

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Extension of Due date – Return in Form GSTR-3B for the period February to April 2020:

Class of Taxpayers	Period	Relaxations Announced
		Due Dates of filing GSTR-3B	Interest	Late Fee
Taxpayer having aggregate turnover up to INR 1.5 crore in the previous Financial Year (FY)	February 2020	30^th June 2020	NIL	No late fee for compliance done on or before the due dates of filing GSTR-3B.
	March 2020	3^rd July 2020	NIL	No late fee for compliance done on or before the due dates of filing GSTR-3B.
	April 2020	6^th July 2020	NIL	No late fee for compliance done on or before the due dates of filing GSTR-3B.
Taxpayer having aggregate turnover exceeding INR 1.5 crore and up to INR 5 Crore in the previous FY	February to March 2020	29^th June 2020	NIL	No late fee for compliance done on or before the due dates of filing GSTR-3B.
	April 2020	30^th June 2020	NIL	No late fee for compliance done on or before the due dates of filing GSTR-3B.
Taxpayer having aggregate turnover exceeding INR 5 crore in the previous FY	February to April 2020	24^th June 2020	Nil for first 15 days from the due date, and 9% per annum thereafter	No late fee for compliance done on or before the due dates of filing GSTR-3B.

Extension of Due date – Return in Form GSTR-3B for the May 2020:

Class of Taxpayers	States Covered	Due Dates
Aggregate Turnover exceeding INR 5 crore in the previous FY	All States	27^th June 2020
Aggregate Turnover exceeding INR 1.5 crore and up to INR Rs. 5 crore in the previous FY	14 States / Union Territories: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, the Union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep	12^th July 2020
Aggregate Turnover exceeding INR 1.5 crore and up to INR Rs. 5 crore in the previous FY	22 States / Union Territories: Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh, Delhi	14^th July 2020

Extension of Due date – Return in Form GSTR-1:

Particulars	Period	Relaxations Announced
		Extended Due Date	Late Fee
Taxable persons having aggregate turnover exceeding INR 1.5 crore (monthly return)	March to May 2020	30^th June 2020	No late fee for compliance on or before 30^th June 2020
Taxable persons having aggregate turnover up to INR 1.5 crore (quarterly return)	January to March 2020	30^th June 2020	No late fee for compliance on or before 30^th June 2020

Relaxation for Composition Dealers:

Particulars	Current Due Date	Extended Due Date
Due date of opting for composition scheme	31^st March 2020	30^th June 2020
Payment of tax via Form CMP-08 for the quarter Jan to Mar 2020	18^th April 2020	7^th July 2020
Filing of return in Form GSTR-4 for FY 2019-2020	30^th April 2020	15^th July 2020

Other Relief Measures:

Due date for issue of notice, notification, approval order, sanction order, filing of appeal, furnishing of return, statements, applications, reports, any other documents etc. under the GST laws, Customs Act and other Allied Laws where the time limit for any compliance under the GST laws where the time limit is expiring between 20^th March 2020 to 29^th June 2020 shall be extended to 30^th June 2020.
Date for filing GST Annual Returns of FY 2018-19, which was due on 31st March, 2020 is extended till the last week of June 2020.
Rule 36(4) restricts the claim of Input Tax Credit (ITC) up to 10% above the ITC as per GSTR-2A. The Government has relaxed such restricting provisions and full ITC can be claimed without considering the ITC as per GSTR-2A for returns filed during the period February to August 2020. However, the ITC claimed has to be matched in a cumulative manner with GSTR 2A before filing GSTR 3B of September 2020, after following Rule 36(4).
Where an e-way bill has been generated and its validity expires during the period 20^th March 2020 to 15^th April 2020, the validity period of such e-way bill shall be extended to 30^th April 2020.
The due date for amount payable under Sabka Vishwas Scheme (SVS) has been extended from 31^st March to 30^th June 2020. No interest shall be payable if amount paid with the said extended date.
Where the last date for filing of appeal etc., relating to Service Tax is falling within 20th March 2020 to 29th June 2020, the same has been extended to 30th June 2020
Where the last date for filing of appeal, refund applications etc., under the Central Excise Act, Customs Act, and rules made thereunder is falling within 20th March 2020 to 29th June 2020, the same has been extended to 30th June 2020.

The Government has taken a pro-active approach in dealing with the situation by coming up with these relief measures and easing out the compliance burden, which is a much needed relief in the middle of the crisis that the world is facing currently.

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Nikita Bhatia

Nikita Bhatia is the co-founder of VenturEasy, an online platform for Company registration, book-keeping, accounting, tax consultancy and legal compliances in India. A Chartered Accountant and company secretary by profession, she has wide experience in the fields of audit, accountancy, taxation and corporate governance.

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