GST council recommends amnesty scheme for reducing late fee for small taxpayers

New Delhi, May 29 (KNN) In a bid to provide relief to small taxpayers, the Goods and Services (GST) Council has recommended an amnesty scheme for reducing late fee payable.

"To provide relief to the small taxpayers and reduce the compliance burden for small taxpayers and medium taxpayers, an amnesty scheme has been recommended for reducing the late fee payable," Sitharaman said at a press briefing after the 43rd GST Council meeting on Friday.

According to an official statement, the late fee for non-furnishing of GSTR-3B for July 2017 to April 2021 has been capped at Rs 500 per return for those taxpayers who did not have any tax liability and for those with tax liability, a maximum of Rs 1,000 per return late fees will be charged, provided such returns are filed by August 31, 2021.

Apart from these, the council has made it optional for taxpayers with turnover up to Rs 2 crore to file annual returns for 2020-21.

Also, the reconciliation statement in Form GSTR-9C for fiscal 2020-21 will have to be filed by taxpayers with an annual aggregate turnover of above Rs 5 crore.

She further said that the taxpayers can now file their pending returns and avail the benefits of this amnesty scheme with reduced late fees.