Rs 500 cap on late fee for monthly GST returns

The government has capped the maximum late fee for filing monthly returns (GSTR-3B) at Rs 500 for the tax period between July 2017 and July 2020, provided taxpayers file the returns before September 30, 2020, a finance ministry statement said.

The Central Board of Indirect taxes and Customs (CBIC) has already notified that there will be no late fees if there is no tax liability, and, if there is any tax liability then a maximum late fee of Rs 500 per return would be applicable to such GSTR-3B returns filed up to September 30, 2020, it said.

Jigar Doshi, founding partner at tax technology firm TMSL said, “With this, the late fee has been waived completely for returns with ‘no liability’ and capped at Rs 500 for returns ‘with liability’. The only condition for availing this benefit is for returns to be filed by September 30, 2020.”

“The initiative by CBIC has a dual benefit from the government’s perspective, to clear the backlog of returns and to impart some working capital relief to the taxpayers,” he said.