Govt caps late fee for GST filing at ~500

The government has capped the late fee charged on late GST filing at ~500 per return if filed before September 30 this year, and has made it zero for those with nil tax liability, in a bid to clear the ongoing confusion in the GST system. Under previous provisions, even those eligible for nil tax were to cough up large amounts of late fee.

Earlier, the late fee was ~200 per day, with a cap of ~10,000 per return. The late fee relates to filing of the form GSTR3B, or the summary input-output returns.

Even those with nil liability may have late fee piled up. Nil liabilities are generally for those taxpayers who file returns quarterly. Even these return filers have got late fee amounting to lakhs of rupees under the previous provisions, as of on July 1, 2017, which is said to have created a mess in the system.

For those filing for February to April this year, the late fee was waived off if they filed before June 24 because of the pandemic.

The cap of ~500 was given to those filing returns for May to July, provided they file their returns before September 30. This is also applicable to those who have not filed earlier returns, provided they file them before September 30.