GST Compliance Calendar for the month of August 2021

Important clarifications / amendments issued by the Government under GST in July 2021 and early August 2021 along with compliance timelines in August 2021:

Compliance Timelines 

Note 1 - Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana or Andhra Pradesh or the Union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep
 
Note 2 - Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand or Odisha or the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh and Delhi.

Updates in the month of July 2021

1. Important changes related to QRMP Scheme implemented on the GST Portal for the taxpayers

 Few important changes related to QRMP Scheme implemented on the GST Portal for the taxpayers are as given below:
 
1. Auto population of GSTR-3B liability from IFF and Form GSTR 1 - A taxpayer under QRMP Scheme can declare their liability through optional IFF for Month 1 and Month 2 of a quarter & Form GSTR-1 for Month 3 of that quarter. Declaration of liability in these forms would now be auto-populated in their Form GSTR-3B (Quarterly) for that quarter, based on their filed Form GSTR-1 and IFF. These fields are editable and in case their values are revised upwards or downwards, the edited field(s) would be highlighted in red colour and a warning message will be displayed to the taxpayer. However, the system would not prevent taxpayer from filing of Form GSTR-3B with edited values.
 
2. Nil filing of Form GSTR-1 (Quarterly) through SMS - Nil filing of Form GSTR-1 (Qtrly) through SMS has been enabled for taxpayers under QRMP Scheme. They can now file it by sending a message in specified format to 14409. However, NIL filing through SMS can’t be done in following scenarios (i) If IFF for Month 1 or 2 of a quarter is in Submitted stage, but not Filed, or (ii) If invoices are Saved in IFF for Month 1 or 2 of a quarter, which was not submitted or filed by due date.
 
3. Impact of cancellation of registration on liability to file Form GSTR-1 - In case registration of a taxpayer under QRMP Scheme is cancelled, with effective date of cancellation being any date after 1st day of Month 1 of a quarter, they would be required to file Form GSTR-1 for the complete quarter, as the last applicable return. For example if the taxpayer’s registration is cancelled w.e.f. 1st of April, he/she is not required to file Form GSTR-1 for Apr-June quarter and Form GSTR-1 for Jan-Mar Quarter shall become the last applicable return. However, if the registration is cancelled on a later date during the quarter, the taxpayer would be required to file Form GSTR-1 for Apr-June quarter. In such cases the filing will become open on 1st of month following the month with cancellation date i.e. if cancellation has taken place on 20th May, Form GSTR-1 for Quarter Apr-June can be filed anytime on or after 1st of June.

2. Clarification regarding extension of limitation under GST Law in terms of Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Order dated 27.04.2021

(a) Proceedings that need to be initiated or compliances that need to be done by the taxpayers:- These actions would continue to be governed only by the statutory mechanism and time limit provided/ extensions granted under the statute itself. Various Orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court would not apply to the said proceedings/ compliances on part of the taxpayers.
 
(b) Quasi-Judicial proceedings by tax authorities:- The tax authorities can continue to hear and dispose off proceedings where they are performing the functions as quasi-judicial authority. This may interalia include disposal of application for refund, application for revocation of cancellation of registration, adjudication proceedings of demand notices, etc. Similarly, appeals which are filed and are pending, can continue to be heard and disposed off and the same will be governed by those extensions of time granted by the statutes or notifications, if any.
 
(c) Appeals by taxpayers/ tax authorities against any quasi- judicial order:- Wherever any appeal is required to filed before Joint/ Additional Commissioner (Appeals), Commissioner (Appeals), Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling, Tribunal and various courts against any quasi-judicial order or where a proceeding for revision or rectification of any order is required to be undertaken, the time line for the same would stand extended as per the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s order.
 
In other words, it has been clarified that the extension of timelines granted by Hon’ble Supreme Court vide its Order dated 27.04.2021 is applicable in respect of any appeal which is required to be filed before Joint/ Additional Commissioner (Appeals), Commissioner (Appeals), Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling, Tribunal and various courts against any quasi-judicial order or where proceeding for revision or rectification of any order is required to be undertaken, and is not applicable to any other proceedings under GST Laws.
 
(Circular No. 157/13/2021-GST dt. 20th July, 2021)

3. Filing of Annual returns by composition taxpayers - Negative Liability in GSTR-4 

GSTN has issued an update on how to deal with Negative Liability in GSTR-4 while filing Annual returns by composition taxpayers. It has been mentioned that liability paid through Form GST CMP-08 is auto-populated in table 5 of the GSTR-4 for convenience of the taxpayers. Taxpayers who do not fill up table 6 of GSTR-4 i.e. no liability is declared, even though, taxpayer may have paid the liability through Form GST CMP-08; since the ‘Tax payable’ in GSTR-4 is computed after reducing the liability declared in GST CMP-08 and then auto-populated in table 5. Thus, if nothing is declared in table 6, then the negative liability entry appears in GSTR-4.
 
GSTN has guided that if table 6 of GSTR-4 has not been filled due to oversight, a ticket may be raised to nullify the amount available in negative liability statement. If there is no liability to be paid during the year, the liability paid through Form GST CMP-08 shall move to negative liability statement and the same excess amount can be utilised to pay the liability of future tax periods.

4. CBIC Circular on Government’s efforts to reduce compliance burden of various procedures & requirements under Customs Act, 1962

CBIC has decided to abolish renewals of Licence/ Registration in Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2021 and Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations, 2018. It has been decided to provide lifetime validity of the licenses/ registrations; to enable provision for making the licenses/ registrations invalid in case the licensee/ registration holder is inactive for the period exceeding 1 year at a time; to provide for voluntary surrender of license/ registration etc. (Circular no. 17/2021-Customs dt. 23rd July,2021).

5. New functionality on Annual Aggregate Turnover (AATO) deployed on GST Portal for taxpayers 

GSTN has implemented a new functionality on taxpayers’ dashboards with the following features:

• The taxpayers can now see the exact Annual Aggregate Turnover (AATO) for the previous FY, instead of just the two slabs of Above or Upto Rs. 5 Cr.
• The taxpayers can also see the Aggregate Turnover of the current FY based on the returns filed till date.
• The taxpayers have also now been provided with the facility of turnover update in case taxpayers feel that the system calculated turnover displayed on their dashboard varies from the turnover as per their records.
• This facility of turnover update shall be provided to all the GSTINs registered on a common PAN. All the changes by any of the GSTINs in their turnover shall be summed up for computation of Annual Aggregate Turnover for each of the GSTINs
• The taxpayer can amend the turnover twice within a period of one month from the date of roll out of this functionality. Thereafter, the figures will be sent for review of the Jurisdictional Tax Officer who then can amend the values furnished by the taxpayer.

The Government has also clarified that the Annual Aggregate Turnover (AATO) has been calculated based on the returns filed by the taxpayers. The detailed advisory on calculation methodology of AATO has been specified under the ‘Advisory’ hosted at Taxpayers’ Dashboard. A functionality has been provided at the Common Portal to modify the AATO where taxpayers have reason to believe that the AATO has been calculated wrongly. In such cases, taxpayers may modify the Annual Aggregate Turnover (AATO). In case such modification is made beyond a certain limit (as specified in the ‘Advisory’), the same shall be sent to the jurisdictional officer’s Dashboard for appropriate action, if required. However, it has been seen that many taxpayers have used the functionality to modify AATO just for confirming it, which is not required. In case, the AATO is correct in their opinion, they are not required to take any action.

6. Functionality to check and update bank account details 

GSTN has implemented a new functionality for taxpayers to check and update their bank account details, which is as follows:

A functionality to check the status of bank account details for taxpayers who have taken new registration at GST Portal but have not yet furnished the same, has been introduced, in view of Rule 10A of the CGST Rules 2017. Such taxpayers are required to update their Bank Account Details within 45 days of the first login henceforth.
 
The taxpayers may login and update Bank Account details through Non-core amendment in the manner as specified in the update on GSTN (link below). In case of taxpayers who had not updated their bank account during registration and have also failed to update the same within 45 days of their first login, will be prompted to do so by the system.

7. Furnishing of self-certified reconciliation statements GSTR 9C for FY 2020-21 onwards

The Notification seeks to notify sections 110 and 111 of the Finance Act, 2021 w.e.f. 01.08.2021. Amendments in section 35 and 44 of CGST Act made through Finance Act, 2021 have been notified. This has eased the compliance requirement in furnishing reconciliation statement in FORM GSTR-9C, as taxpayers would be able to self-certify the reconciliation statement, instead of getting it certified by chartered accountants. This change will apply for Annual Return for FY 2020-21 onwards (Notification no. No. 29/2021 – Central Tax dt. 30th July, 2021).

8. Changes pursuant to notification of sections 110 and 111 of the Finance Act, 2021 w.e.f. 01.08.2021 in CGST Rules

The changes that are required in Rule 80 – Annual Return of the CGST Rules, 2017, Form GSTR 9 and Form GSTR 9C have been undertaken through this notification. The changes are mainly w.r.t. addition of the FY 2020-21 at appropriate places and some very minor ones. There is no major change in the Forms (Notification no. No. 30/2021 – Central Tax dt. 30th July, 2021).

9. Exemption in filing of annual return for assessees having aggregate turnover of upto 2 crores for FY 2020-21 

The Government has exempted assessees whose aggregate turnover in the financial year 2020-21 is upto two crore rupees from filing annual return for the said financial year (Notification no. No. 31/2021 – Central Tax dt. 30th July, 2021).

10. Annual Ret0rn (GSTR-9) for the FY 2020-21 is now available on the GST portal for filing 

Kindly note that the Annual return (GSTR-9) for the FY 2020-21 is now available on the GST portal for filing. The last date for filing is Dec 31, 2021. Please note that filing of GSTR 9 is exempted for tax payers who have an aggregate turnover of upto 2 crores.
 
Please note the following points:

1. NIL GSTR-9 can be filed, if one has (i) Not made any outward supply (commonly known as sale); AND (ii) Not received any inward supplies (commonly known as purchase) of goods/services; AND (iii) No liability of any kind; AND (iv) Not claimed any Credit during the Financial Year; AND (v) Not received any order creating demand; AND (vi) Not claimed any refund during the Financial Year
2. GSTR-9 can be filed online. It can also be prepared on Offline tool and then uploaded on the Portal and filed. One can download the GSTR-9 offline tool from the Downloads section in the pre-login page on the portal.
3. All applicable statements of Forms GSTR-1/IFF and returns in Form GSTR-3B of the financial year should have been filed before filing GSTR-9.
4. In case, one is required to file GSTR-9C (Reconciliation statement and Certification), the same shall be enabled on the dashboard post filing of GSTR-9.
5. Annual return in Form GSTR-9 once filed cannot be revised.
6. Computation of ITC in GSTR 9 has been made based on GSTR-1/IFF/GSTR-5 filed by the corresponding suppliers upto 15/07/2021. GSTR-1/IFF/GSTR-5 filed after the updation date will be covered in the next updation.
7. One may download the draft of system generated GSTR-9, summary of GSTR-1/IFF and summary of GSTR-3B from GSTR-9 dashboard for reference
8. If number of records/lines are less than or equal to 500 records per table in Table 17 and Table 18, then one may use the online facility
9. If number of records/lines either in Table-17 or Table-18 are more than 500 records per table, then one should prepare his return by using the offline utility only and the same can be subsequently uploaded on Common Portal.
10. Additional liability, if any, declared in this return can be paid through Form GST DRC-03 by selecting as Annual Return from the cause of payment dropdown in the said form. Such liability can be paid only through cash.

11. Advisory for Taxpayers regarding Blocking of E-Way Bill (EWB) generation facility to resume after 15th August, 2021 

GSTN has issued an advisory wherein it has mentioned that the facility of blocking E way bill generation had been temporarily suspended due to pandemic. In terms of Rule 138 E (a) and (b) of the CGST Rules, 2017, the E Way Bill generation facility of a person is liable to be restricted, in case the person fails to file their return in Form GSTR-3B / statement in CMP-08, for a consecutive period of two months / Quarters or more. The government has now decided to resume the blocking of EWB generation facility on the EWB portal, for all the taxpayers in terms of Rule 138 E (a) and (b) of the CGST Rules, 2017, from 15th August onwards.

12. CBIC notifies exchange rates effective from August 6, 2021 

CBIC has notified the rate of exchange of conversion of the foreign currencies into Indian currency or vice versa, for import and export of goods. These rates of exchange of one unit of foreign currency equivalent to Indian rupees shall be effective from 6th August, 2021. In this regard, the CBIC has issued notification in supersession of Notification No.59/2021-Customs (N.T.), dated 15th July, 2021. (Notification No.65/2021-Customs (N.T.) dated August 5th, 2021).