23rd GST Council Meeting - GST Return Due Date Changes

In the 23rd GST Council Meeting held on 10th November 2017, the Government has announced various measures to simplify compliance under the GST regime and reduce GST burden on the common man. The decisions announced in the 23rd GST Council Meeting will tremendously help in improving the ease of doing business in India and will make India one of the best places to do business in the world. In this article, we summarise the major decisions announced in the 23rd GST Council Meeting with respect to GST return filing. Most small businesses found GST return filing procedures to be very complex and cumbersome. In a bid to reduce the compliance burden, the due dates and frequency of GST return filing have been reduced as follows:

Want to know about other major changes announced at the 23rd GST Council Meeting?

Details of GST Rate Changes for Goods announced in the 23rd GST Council Meeting Details of GST Rate Changes for Services and Service Providers announced in the 23rd GST Council Meeting Details of GST Composition Scheme Changes announced in the 23rd GST Council Meeting

GSTR-3B Return Due Date Changes

GSTR-3B return is a simple return that must be filed every month by all taxpayers. In the 22nd GST Council Meeting, it was announced that GSTR-3B return must be filed by all taxpayers registered until December 2017. In the 23rd GST Council Meeting, it has been announced that GSTR-3B return must be filed for all months from July 2017 to March 2018. The due date for GSTR-3B return will be the 20th of every month.

GSTR 1 Return Due Date Changes

GSTR-1 return must be filed by all taxpayers until March 2018 as per the following schedule. Further, the due date for filing GSTR-1 will be dependent on the annual aggregate turnover of the business.

Annual Turnover of Less than Rs.1.5 Crores

Entities having GST registration and a turnover of less than Rs.1.5 crores per annum can file quarterly GST returns as follows:

Quarter	GSTR 1 Return Due Date
July - September 2017	31st December 2017
October - December 2017	15th February 2018
January - March 2018	30th April 2018

Annual Turnover of More than Rs.1.5 Crores

Entities having GST registration and a turnover of more than Rs.1.5 crores per annum must file monthly GST returns as follows:

Month	GSTR 1 Return Due Date
July 2017	31st December 2017
August 2017	31st December 2017
September 2017	31st December 2017
October 2017	31st December 2017
November 2017	10th January 2018
December 2017	10th February 2018
January 2018	10th March 2018
February 2018	10th April 2018
March 2018	10th May 2018

GSTR 2 Return & GSTR 3 Return Suspended Until Further Notice

The requirement for filing GSTR 2 and GSTR 3 return has been suspended until further notice from the Government. The due dates and requirement for filing GSTR 2 and GSTR 3 return would be determined by a Committee of Officers at a future date. However, GSTR 1 return must be filed by taxpayers as per the schedule above without filing GSTR 2 and GSTR 3 return.

Waiver of Penalty for Late Filing GST Returns

The Government has announced a waiver and reduction in penalty for late or default in filing GST returns as below:

Waiver of GST Return Penalty

The Government has waived the late filing penalty for GSTR 3B return for the months of July, August and September 2017. In case any taxpayer paid a penalty, the penalty paid shall add to the electronic cash ledger.

Reduction of GST Return Penalty

In addition to the waiver of GST Return Penalty, the Government has also announced a reduction in GST return penalty for NIL GST returns. From October 2017, the GST return penalty for not filing NIL GST return has been reduced to Rs.20 per day instead of Rs. 200 per day. The reduction in penalty will tremendously help SMEs and first-time Entrepreneurs.

Changes to GSTR 4 Return Due Date

GSTR 4 return must be filed by taxpayer registered under the GST composition scheme. GSTR4 is a quarterly return that was originally due on the 18th of October, January, April and July. Now, GSTR 4 for the July to September 2017 quarter will be due only on the 24th of December 2017. The due date for subsequent quarters will be announced by the GST Council at a future date.

Changes to GSTR 5 Return Due Date

GSTR 5 return must be filed every month by persons registered under GST as a non-resident taxable person. Originally GSTR5 was due on the 20th of every month. Now, the GSTR 5 and GSTR 5A due date for the month of July 2017 has been extended until 11th December and 15th December 2017, respectively.

Changes to GSTR 6 Return Due Date

GSTR 6 return must be filed by persons registered under GST as an input service distributor. GSTR6 return was originally due on the 13th of every month. Now, the due date for filing GSTR 6 has been extended until 31st December 2017.

Changes to GST TRAN-1 Return Due Date

The procedure for transferring existing input tax credit to GST for entities that had service tax or VAT or central excise registration has been provided in the Transitional Provisions rules of GST. In accordance with the provisions, everybody who has registered for GST can file GSTR TRAN-1 to transfer input tax credit. The due date for filing GST TRAN-1 has now been extended until 31st December 2017. Any taxpayer who filed GST TRAN-1 can also now revise their return until 31st December 2017.

Changes to GST ITC-04 Return Due Date

The details of challans in respect of goods dispatched to a job worker or received from a job worker or sent from one job worker to another during a quarter should be filed in FORM GST ITC-04. GST ITC-04 is due every quarter on the 25th day after the end of a quarter. The due date for filing GST ITC-04 for the July to September 2017 quarter has now been extended until 31st December 2017.

GST Press Release on GST Return Due Date Changes

The press release from the Government about the GST return due date changes is attached below for reference: [pdf-embedder url="https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GST-Notification-GST-Return-Due-Date-Changes.pdf" title="GST Notification – GST Return Due Date Changes"] Click here for GST Registration or GST Return Filing