Government announces various relief measures for taxpayers under GST law

In view of the corona pandemic, the government has announced various relief measures for taxpayers under GST law including a reduction in the interest rate and waiving of late fee. The Finance Ministry has issued a notification in this regard.

In the notification, the Ministry has said that a lower rate of interest of 9 per cent for the first 15 days from the due date of payment of tax and 18 per cent thereafter, for the tax payable for the tax period of March and April 2021 has been notified for registered persons having aggregate turnover of over Rs 5 crore.

In case of aggregate turnover up to Rs 5 crore, nil rate of interest for the first 15 days from the due date of payment of tax, 9 per cent for the next 15 days, and 18 per cent thereafter, for both normal taxpayers and those under Quarterly Return, Monthly Payment of Taxes (QRMP) Scheme for March and April 2021 has been notified.

The Ministry further added that for registered persons having aggregate turnover above 5 crore rupees, the late fee has been waived for 15 days with regard to returns in FORM GSTR-3B furnished beyond the due date for tax periods of these two months. In case of turnover up to 5 crore rupees, the late fee has been waived for 30 days for GSTR-3B returns furnished beyond the due date.

Besides, the Finance Ministry has extended the due date of filing FORM GSTR-1 and Invoice Furnishing Facility (IFF) for April due in May has been extended by 15 days. The due date of filing FORM GSTR-4 for Financial Year 2020-21 has also been extended from 30th April to 31st May 2021. The due date of furnishing FORM ITC-04 for the January to March 2021 quarter has also been extended from 25th April to 31st of this month.