Due Date of Annual Return (GSTR-9) has Extended till 30 September 2020

Recently, the Finance Ministry has announced with notification number 41/2020-central tax. According to the notification, the filing of GSTR 9C and GSTR 9 due date extended to September 30th, 2020. It is mandatory to file the annual return of GSTR 9 and audit reconciliation form of GSTR 9C before 30th September.  

This extension has given a chance to all taxpayers to file tax returns annually with accuracy and clarity in time. It will help the taxpayers to review the annual return carefully without any mistakes. 

Why GSTR-9 filing due date extended?

The Honorable Finance Minister has looked inot a number of petitions to extend the GST return date due to the corona outbreak. Filing the return on the last date of GST return was very difficult for the taxpayers. As India faced a lockdown due to the corona outbreak, complying with the file and filing tax was very difficult. To help the taxpayers, the Ministry of Finance has announced the GSTR 9C and GSTR 9 due date extended. This extension helped the taxpayers very much to prevent any penalty or a late fee.  

The complexity of Annual GST Return (GSTR-9)

Apart from lockdown, many different complexities caused problems for the taxpayers to file Annual GST return filing. One of the issues that troubled the taxpayers is the mismatch of the Table 8A of GSTR-9 and 2A of GSTR. Also, the problem of claimed tax credit not showing in GSTR 2A is another complexity of the GSTR-9.

Many taxpayers have reported that the input tax credit of GSTR-3B is not reflected in GSTR-2A. The figures in Table 6(H) and 6(B) are overlapping, which creates many problems for the taxpayers. To prevent these complexities and give taxpayers more time, both the GSTR 9C and GSTR-9 due date extended.

Who requires to file GSTR-9

• All the organizations that have GST registration and have 15 digits GSTIN have to pay GSTR-9

• If any business has more than 20 Lakh turnover, then they have to file GSTR-9 

• All taxpayers that come under the GST have to file GSTR-9 except non-resident taxpayers and others with UIN number

The taxpayers need to compile all the details of transactions of the entire year including interstate and intrastate transactions. Some other ones are B2C and B2B transactions, exempted items related transactions, and many more.   

How business relaxed the GSTR-9 deadline?

Along with the announcement of the GSTR-9 due date extended, the Ministry of Finance has announced some other things. The companies with a profit of fewer than 5 crores do not have to pay any penalty, late fee, and interests. All the bigger companies also do not need to pay the late fee and penalty. But the rate of 9% interest will be charged on them, which is lower than the normal rate. Most of the companies will not have to pay late fees or interest. Also, the taxpayers got more time to review and rectify all the mistakes in their invoices. 

The due date extension of GSTR-9 has helped the taxpayers very much to get the extra time they needed to compile files and avoid complexities.