Large & Small Taxpayers might have Separate Due Dates: GST Council

Source: cnbctv18.com

In the upcoming meeting, the GST council is likely to discuss the possibility of separate due dates for large and small taxpayers, under the new simplified return process. It might ease the compliance burden and prevent the overload on the system due to last-minute rush of taxpayers to file their returns.

The Council is scheduled to meet this Friday during which they will discuss on relaxing the dates for new simplified returns being implemented from Jan 2020. The council agenda states, “Going by past experience, huge filing is expected on 10^th of the following month, especially after the end of the quarter when monthly and quarterly filers will upload ANX-1. Thus, like staggering of RET filing, staggering of ANX-1 upload is also recommended.”

From January 2020 onward, the taxpayers will be filing the new simplified return RET1 and GSTR-3B will be phased out. ANX-1/2 will replace GSTR-1/2A with effect from October 2019. The Council had also decided to run ANX-1 and GSTR-3B in parallel for 2 months for monthly filers.

New deadlines according to the proposal

The proposal to set two different deadlines for new simplified returns is up to GST Council to finalize. The due dates as per the proposal are listed below.

• For Large Taxpayers:
  • Due date to file RET1 – 20^th of next month
  • Due date to file ANX1 – 10^th of next month
• For Small Taxpayers:
  • Due date to file RET1 – 25^th of next month
  • Due date to file ANX1 – 13^th of next month
• Due date to file ANX2 for both large and small taxpayers – 17^th of next month

In its 35^th meeting, the GST Council decided that the new return should be implemented in a phased manner. As per the current GSTR system, the last date to file returns is the same for both small and large taxpayers.