GST Return Late filing & Penalties

The GST Act mandates filing returns. In cases where there are no transactions for a particular period, taxpayers will still need to file a nil GST return. Missed returns cannot be filed in a subsequent month or quarter. Therefore, late filing will have a cascading effect leading to heavy fines and penalty.

Pursuant to the GST Act, late fees of Rs. 100 per day per return will be levied on companies in cases of late filing. This means total late fees of Rs. 200 per day (100 under CGST and 100 under SGST), subject to a maximum of Rs. 5,000 for a particular period. There are no late fees for IGST returns.

The GST Council has waived late fees for GSTR-3B for July, August, and September 2017. Any late fees paid for these months will be credited back to the company’s electronic cash ledger under ‘Tax’ and can be utilized to make future GST payments.

In addition, the GST Council reduced the fees for filing GSTR-3B and GSTR-4 returns after their due dates to:

• Rs. 50 per day of delay in normal cases
• Rs. 20 per day of delay for taxpayers having nil tax liability for the month 

              Interest on delayed tax payments is charged at 18 percent per annum on the amount of outstanding tax and is calculated from the day following the missed due date until the actual date of payment.