The CBIC has Provided relief in filling the annual return in Form GSTR-4

Relief in Filling Annual Return

This yearly filing of annual returns applies to all the taxpayers registered under the composition scheme anytime during the financial year 2021-22. The government has waived the late fee for any delay in the filing on or before the due date, 30th April 2022 for the financial year of 2021-22. The GST law needs the taxpayers to submit this return form on or before the 30th of April. 50 rs fine which can be extended to Rs. 2000 will be imposed on anyone who will delay filing it beyond the due date. However, the government can only impose a late fee of up to 50rs.

After this decision by the CBIC which is the Central Board for Indirect Taxes, now the taxpayers are not needed to pay any late fee for filing the annual return between the 1st of May and the 30th of June 2022. For any delay after that, they must pay the late fee from the 1st of May 2022 until the actual date of filing the return. Even if the late fees do not reflect on the GST portal, the taxpayer is duly bound to calculate and pay the late fees.

This facility for filing the return was launched on the GST portal on 21st July 2020. It was then followed by the launch of the offline tool GSTR-4 on the 6th of August 2020 to allow some tables of GSTR-4 to be prepared without the internet.

About GSTR-4 Return Form

The GSTR-4 form is a much simpler and easier version than the GSTR-9 return form. The taxpayers can easily fill out the GSTR-4 form without any hassles and complications. The annual return in form GSTR-4 has only four tables, out of which one table is auto-filled as per the Form CMP-08 filed every quarter during the particular financial year.

Traders and manufacturers can opt-out of this scheme if their annual turnover is lesser than 1.5 crores rs for all the states except those who belong to the north-eastern states where there’s a limit up to Rs. 75 lakh.  Service providers or those making mixed supplies of goods and services have a threshold turnover limit of up to Rs. 50 lakh to qualify for the special composition scheme. 

Under this scheme, the manufacturers and traders have to pay 1% of GST on their turnover. On the other hand, the restaurants that are not serving alcohol and service providers are required to pay 5% and 6% of GST respectively.

Conclusion

This decision by the Central Board of Direct Taxes shall provide a much-needed relief from the hefty and cumbersome late fees and will surely provide some comfort to the taxpayers. It’s a very welcoming and good decision from the CBIC.