GST Compliance Alert for 93% of Registered Persons in GST: The Crucial Date of 30th November, 2020

Mayank Mohanka , Last updated: 30 November 2020
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93% of Registered Persons in GST: Be Alert of the Crucial Date of 30th November 2020.

In India, at present about 93% of the total Registered Persons under GST are having their annual turnover of up to Rs. 5 crores, and the date of 30.11.2020 is very significant and crucial for all such registered persons.

Until 31.12.2020, the businesses and traders having an annual aggregate turnover in excess of Rs. 1.5 crores are required to mandatorily file monthly GSTR 1 (Return for Outward Supplies) and GSTR 3B (Consolidated Return of Outward & Inward Supplies).

It is pertinent to mention here that the Government of India, Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), CBIC, vide Notification No. 82/2020 – Central Tax, dated 28th October 2020, has added sub-rule (6) to Rule 61 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, to provide for staggered filing of Form GSTR-3B, for the tax periods from October 2020 till March 2021.

GST Compliance Alert for 93 of Registered Persons in GST: The Crucial Date of 30th November, 2020

Accordingly, the prescribed due dates of filing GSTR 3B for the month of October 2020, for different categories of Registered Persons, based on their annual turnover and geographical location, are being tabulated as under:

TABLE 1

S.No.	Taxpayers with Aggregate Annual Turnover on PAN Basis in the preceding financial year	Taxpayers having Principal Place of Business in the State/UT	Due Date of Filing GSTR 3B for October 2020
1.	More than Rs. 5 Crore	All States & UTs	20th November 2020
2.	Up to Rs. 5 Crore	States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the Union territories of Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, Andaman, and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.	22nd November 2020
3.	Up to Rs. 5 Crore	States of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha, the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh, and Delhi.	24th November 2020

The GST Reform has been introduced as a trade facilitation measure, but ironically, due to this compulsory requirement of monthly return filings, the GST reform, instead of making business compliances easy, is being perceived as making businesses busy in frequent compliances including return filings.

Gauging the pulse of the small and middle level registered persons and taking cognizance of the recommendation of the 42nd GST Council, the Apex Body CBIC, on 10.11.2020, has issued 4 Notifications viz. 81, 82, 83 & 84/2020, giving the much-awaited option of filing quarterly GST Returns along with monthly payment of tax to the registered persons having aggregate annual turnover of up to 5 crore rupees, w.e.f. 01.01.2021, under the Quarterly Return Monthly Payment (QRMP) Scheme.

A registered person who is required to furnish a return in FORM GSTR-3B, and who has an aggregate turnover of up to 5 crore rupees in the preceding financial year, is eligible for the QRMP Scheme, w.e.f. 1.1.2021.

GST Compliance Alert for 93% of Registered Users:

For the first quarter of the QRMP Scheme i.e. for the quarter January 2021 to March 2021, in order to facilitate the taxpayers, the default migration facility is being enabled and it has been provided that all the registered persons, whose aggregate turnover for the FY 2019-20 is up to 5 crore rupees and who have furnished the return in FORM GSTR-3B for the month of October 2020 by 30th November 2020, shall be automatically migrated on the common portal, as below.

TABLE 2

S.No.	Class of registered person	Default Option
1	Registered persons having an aggregate turnover of up to 1.5 crore rupees who have furnished FORM GSTR-1 on a quarterly basis in the current financial year	Quarterly return
2	Registered persons having an aggregate turnover of up to 1.5 crore rupees who have furnished FORM GSTR-1 on monthly basis in the current financial year	Monthly Return
3	Registered persons having an aggregate turnover of more than 1.5 crore rupees and up to 5 crore rupees in the preceding financial	Quarterly return

The taxpayers who have not filed their GSTR 3B Return for October 2020 on or before 30th November 2020 will not be migrated to the QRMP Scheme. In simple words, the benefit of Default Migration to the QRMP Scheme, will not be available to the Registered Persons who have not filed their GSTR 3B Returns for the month of October 2020, up till 30.11.2020, even if their annual turnover for the preceding FY 2019-20 is up to Rs. 5 crores. They will be able to opt for the QRMP Scheme once the FORM GSTR-3B as due on the date of exercising option has been filed.

The above default option has been provided for the convenience of registered persons based on their anticipated behavior. However, such registered persons are free to change the option as above, if they so desire, from 5th of December, 2020 to 31st of January, 2021.

Therefore, those registered persons having their annual aggregate turnover of up to Rs 5 crore in the FY 2019-20 and who have not filed their GSTR 3B Returns for the month of October 2020, by the 22nd/24th of November, 2020 (as tabulated in Table 1 above), are advised to furnish their GSTR 3B Return of October, 2020 by 30.11.2020, if they wish to avail the benefit of default migration to the QRMP Scheme.