Under GST Law late filing of various returns attract levy of late fees as per section 47 of SGST Act. Based on this late fees in delay of filing returns and relevant Notifications listed as below:
Late fee under GST
| Serial No. | Particulars | Late fee – maximum amount/ per return | Notification No. and date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name of the GST Return | Nill Return | Oterthan Nil Return | CGST notification No.19/2021 and 20/2021 dated 1st June 2021 | |
| 1 | GSTR1 & GSTR3B | 1. Nil Return Late Fee 500; that is CGST Rs.250 and SGST Rs.250 per return | a. Annual Turnover upto Rs.1.50 Crores– Late fee Rs.2000/- that is CGST Rs.1000/- and SGST Rs.1000/- per return | |
| b. Annual Turnover between Rs.1.50 Crores and Rs. 5 Crores– Late fee Rs.5000/- that is CGST Rs.2500/- and SGST Rs.2500/- per return | ||||
| c. Annual Turnover between more than Rs. 5 Crores– Late fee Rs.1000/- that is CGST Rs.5000/- and SGST Rs.5000/- per return | ||||
| 2 | GSTR-4 | 1. Nil Return Late Fee 500; that is CGST Rs.250 and SGST Rs.250 per return | Other than Nil Return– Late fee Rs.2000/- that is CGST Rs.1000/- and SGST Rs.1000/- per return | Applicable with effect from Fin. Year 2021-22- CGST notification No.21/2021 dated 1st June 2021 |
| 3 | GSTR-7- TDS filing under GST | Maximum late fee is Rs.2000/- and per day charge being Rs.50/- per day per returnGSTR-7- TDS filing under GST | CGST notification No.22/2021 dated 1st June 2021 | |
| 4 | GSTR 9- Annual Return | Late fee for not filing GSTR9 within due date is Rs. 200/- per day , that is CGST Rs.100/- and SGST Rs.100/-(subject to a maximum of 0.25 percent of the assessee’s Turnover in the State or Union Territory)Late fee for not filing GSTR9 within due date is Rs. 200/- per day , that is CGST Rs.100/- and SGST | CGST notification No.22/2021 dated 1st June 2021 | |
| 5 | GSTR9C- Reconciliation statement | Late fee for not filing GSTR9C within due date is Rs. 50,000/- , that is CGST Rs.25,000/- and SGST Rs.25,000/- |
In the above structure of late fee the most alarming issue is with respect to the delay in filing of annual return GSTR 9. Here for the delay late fee comes @ Rs.200/- per day and if the delay prolongs maximum late fee shall be 0.25% of assesses turnover in the respective State. In short if a tax payer omitted to file an annual return the late fee starting from Rs.200/- and ended up with 0.25% of these turnover in that State/Union territory. In respect of all other filing of forms like GSTR 1, 3B, GSTR 4, 7, GSTR 9C there is a quantified maximum limit with may be up to Rs.10,000/-, Rs.20,000/- or Rs.50,000/- etc. only. But in the case of delay in filing of GSTR 9 only there is no such quantification and tax payer may hit with huge late fee amount up to 0.25% of turnover. In my view this issue is very serious and Government has to re consider to limit maximum late fee to the extent Rs.50,000/- just like in the case of delay in filing of GSTR 9C. In practice it is found that if there was substantial period of delay in the filing of such annual return GSTR 9 for the period pertaining to 2017-18, 2018-19 & 2019-20 GST portal not automatically disclosed with any such late fee amount. It means without remitting any late fee annual return can be filed during the initial period of 2017-18, 2018-19 & 2019-20. However, now only if a tax payer searching the site for filing the annual return substantial amount of late fee generating @ Rs.200/- per day (CGST + SGST) is automatically comes in the GST site. In this circumstances levy of late fee based on the ceiling of turnover to be avoided by the recommendation of GST council or in the ensuing Government budget. Many of the tax payers are not aware of the fact that every registered person were registration has been cancelled shall furnish a final return within three months of the date of cancellation.