Penalty Provisions for Not Filing GST Return in India

Defining Goods and Services Tax (GST)

It is a value-added indirect tax that is charged on the production, supply, and consumption of goods and services. It applies to all types of businesses both large and small. It consists of tax slabs from 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%. GST registration online is a mandatory requirement for all the suppliers of goods and services whose annual turnover exceeds a certain threshold limit prescribed by the Government. Every taxpayer whose total turnover exceeds Rs. 40 lakhs must acquire GST registration mandatorily under the GST Act. However, the threshold changes to Rs 20 lakhs for the North-Eastern states which include Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh.

Types of Goods and Services Tax

Depending on the product or service and the type of transaction, the government has divided GST into four types:

• Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST),
• State Goods and Services Tax (SGST),
• Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST),
• Union Territory Goods and Services Tax (UTGST).

It is important to understand if the transaction is taking place within the states or outside the states (inter-state & intra-state). Intra-state supply of goods & services takes place when the supplier and the buyer both are in the same state, whereas the Inter-state supply of goods & services takes place when the supplier and the buyer are from different states.

Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST)

CGST is charged on the products and services that are supplied within the states (intra-state) and is governed by the central government.

State Goods and Services Tax (SGST)

SGST is also charged on the supply of goods and services within the states but it is governed by the state government.

 Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST)

The IGST is charged on the inter-state (different states) supply of goods and services and is governed by the IGST Act.

This tax is applied to the imports to India as well as exports from India.

Under the IGST Act,

• The tax is shared between the state
• The central government and exports are zero-rated.

Union Territory Goods and Services Tax (UTGST)

Lastly, UGST is charged on the supply of goods and services that take place within the union territories.

GST Returns

GST return is a document that contains all the details related to income and it is the responsibility of the taxpayer to file for it. GST Return Filing Online is mandatory conformity for every business that is registered under the GST Act. Under GST (Goods and Services Tax), filing GST returns is a fundamental activity that works as a link between the government and the taxpayer.

While filing GST returns, the taxpayer has to provide important information such as the details of the business activity, payment of taxes, declaration of tax liability, and other information as required by the government. GST returns must be filed electronically, i.e. on the GST online portal. However, there is also an option of filing GST returns manually.

Process of GST Return Filing

• The first step is filling up the GSTR – 1 return form. The taxpayer must upload the GSTR-1 return form that contains details of outward supplies made by a taxpayer either directly through data entry in the GST Portal or by uploading the file that consists of the GSTR-1 return form by the 10th day of succeeding month.
• GST Common Portal (GSTN) will be auto-generated in provisional GSTR-2 of a taxpayer.
• Purchasing taxpayer will then either accept, reject or modify the provisional GSTR-2.
• The purchasing taxpayer must add additional purchase invoice details in his GSTR-2 which has not been uploaded by the supplier, to ensure the valid invoice issued by the supplier and receiving of supplies.
• Taxpayers will have the option to conduct a reconciliation of inward supplies with suppliers during the 7 days by following up with their counter-party taxpayers and ensure that supplier invoices are not missing in the GSTR-1 of the suppliers.
• Taxpayers will finalize their GSTR-1 and GSTR-2 returns.
• Taxpayers, then, make a payment of the amount shown in draft GSTR-3 (Monthly returns) generated at the online Portal Post Finalization of activities.
• The taxpayer will debit both ITC, cash ledger, and mention the debit entry number in the GSTR-3 return and will submit it.

Types of GST Return Filing in India

• Returns to be filed by a taxpayer

Returns	Particulars	Due Date
GSTR-1	Particulars of Outward Supplies	10th of the next month
GSTR-2	Particulars of Inward Supplies	15th of the next month
GSTR-3	Monthly Return of tax payment	20th of the next month
GSTR-4	Annual Returns	31st December of next financial year

 

• Returns filed by a Composition Taxpayer

Returns	Particulars	Due Date
GSTR-4	Quarterly return	18th month after every quarter
GSTR-9	Annual return	31st December of next financial year

 

• Additional Returns based on the Nature of the Business

Returns	Particulars	Due date	Filed by
GSTR-5	Particulars of Inward and Outward Supplies. Tax liability computation	20thof the next month. For the last month either 20thof the next month or 7 days after expiration, whichever is earlier	Non-Resident Taxable Person
GSTR-6	Distribution of Input Tax credit	13thof next month	Input Service Distributor
GSTR-7	TDS details or any related modifications	10thof next month	Authorities deducting tax at source
GSTR-8	Details of supplies effected through them.	10thof the next month	E-commerce Operator who collects tax at source

 

Penalty for not filing GST returns

Any taxpayer that fails to pay the tax that is compulsory for him to pay must pay 18% of the tax amount. The taxpayer can calculate the interest on the amount of outstanding tax to be paid. The time period must be from the next day of the return filing to the date of payment. The late fee includes Rs 100 per day. Thus, it is Rs 100 under CGST & Rs 100 under SGST (State Goods and Services Tax). In total, it sums up to Rs 200 per day.

The maximum amount will sum up to Rs 5000. However, there’s no late on the Integrated Goods and Services Act (IGST). The GST late filing penalty has been mentioned as follows: A person who fails to specify details of outward or inward supplies, monthly return or final return by the due date – The GST penalty for late filing is INR 100 for every day during which the failure continues, subject to a maximum of INR 5,000.

Cost for GST Registration

Rs 1599 which includes online document submission, application tracking, and GST Registration Certificate

Eligibility requirements for GST Registration

• It is mandatory for those to apply for GST who were already filing tax under the previous GST laws such as Vat, Service Tax, etc.
• Firms that are generating revenue of more than the limit which is Rs. 40 Lakhs.
• Individuals who deal with the Distribution and Supply to the manufacturers of goods.
• Individuals that are looking for a Tax Refund under a double taxation mechanism.
• Manufacturer of products.
• Individuals that are involved in the sale of products through e-commerce websites.
• All types of e-commerce websites

Documents required for GST Registration

• Pan Card of the applicant
• Identity proof and address proof of all the advertisers of the business
• Photographs of Directors and Partners
• The proof of registration of the business, or a Partnership Deed in case the business involves partners and certificates of registration
• Address proof of the location of the business
• Bank account details of the business
• Digital signature
• Letter of Authorization from the Board of Directors and Partners

Source: https://medium.com/@sonu_mallik/penalty-provisions-for-not-filing-gst-return-in-india-3556c80f0b61

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