Last updated: July 8th, 2023 8:42 AM

New Amnesty Scheme under GST

49^th GST Council Meeting, held on 18^th February 2023, recommended the introduction of New Amnesty Scheme under the following circumstances –

• Registration has been cancelled for non-filing of GST returns and application for revocation of cancellation of GST registration is not filed within the time limit specified under section 30 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017;
• Conditional deemed withdrawal of assessment orders where the concerned relevant returns are not filed within a period of 30 days of the assessment order issued under section 62 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017;
• Filing of pending returns in Form No. GSTR-4; Form No. GSTR-9 and Form No. GSTR-10 with conditional waiver or reduction of late fee.

Acting on the same, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs issued various notifications giving effect to various amnesties. The same is taken up and explained in the present article.

Briefing all the amnesties introduced vide notifications issued on 31^st March 2023 –

Before going into briefs of various amnesties introduced post 49^th GST Council Meeting, let us go through the notifications through which the amnesties are notified. The following table summarizes all the amnesties as introduced vide various notifications issued on 31^st March 2023 –

Notification No.	Corresponding amnesties
Notification No. 02/2023- Central Tax	Amnesty to GSTR-4 non-filers
Notification No. 03/2023- Central Tax	Amnesty for revocation of cancellation of GST registration
Notification No. 06/2023- Central Tax	Amnesty for deemed withdrawal of assessment orders being issued under section 62 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
Notification No. 07/2023- Central Tax	Amnesty to GSTR-9 non-filers
Notification No. 08/2023- Central Tax	Amnesty to GSTR-10 non-filers

Amnesty available to non-filers of Form GSTR-4 [composition scheme dealer] –

Registered person who failed to furnish return in Form No. GSTR-4 will be benefited with waiver of late fees under the Amnesty Scheme in the following manner [notification no. 02/2023- Central Tax dated 31^st March 2023] –

• Period covered –

1. Quarters from July, 2017 to March 2019;
2. Financial Years from 2019-2020 to 2021-2022.

• Late fees payable post waiver –

Particulars	Late fees payable under Amnesty Scheme
Total amount of central tax payable is NIL	No late fees payable
Any other case	INR 500 (i.e. INR 250 CGST + INR 250 SGST)

• Condition for availing benefit under the Amnesty Scheme–

Pending returns in Form GSTR-4 should be furnished between the periods 1^st April 2023 till 30^th June 2023.

Amnesty available to non-filers of Form GSTR-9 (Annual Return) –

Registered person who failed to furnish return in Form No. GSTR-9 will be benefited with waiver of late fees under Amnesty Scheme in the following manner [notification no. 07/2023- Central Tax dated 31^st March 2023] –

• Period covered –

Financial Year 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2021-22.

• Late fees payable post waiver –

INR 20,000 (INR 10,000 CGST + INR 10,000 SGST)

• Condition for availing benefit under the Amnesty Scheme–

Pending returns in Form GSTR-9 should be furnished between the periods 1^st April 2023 till 30^th June 2023.

Amnesty available to non-filers of Form GSTR-10 (Final Return) –

Registered person who failed to furnish final return in Form No. GSTR-10 will be benefited with waiver of late fees under Amnesty Scheme in the following manner [notification no. 08/2023- Central Tax dated 31^st March 2023] –

• Late fees payable post waiver –

INR 1,000 (INR 500 CGST + INR 500 SGST)

• Condition for availing benefit under the Amnesty Scheme–

Pending returns in Form GSTR-10 should be furnished between the periods 1^st April 2023 till 30^th June 2023.

Amnesty for revocation of cancellation of GST registration vis-à-vis non-filing of returns [Notification no. 03/2023- Central Tax dated 31^st March 2023] –

Applicability –

The benefit under Amnesty Scheme is available only if the following conditions are satisfied –

1. GST registration of registered person is cancelled under –
   1. Section 29(2)(b) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 [i.e. non-filing by composition dealer]; or
   2. Section 29(2)(c) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 [i.e. non-filing by other registered person],
2. Such registration is cancelled on or before 31^st December 2022,
3. Post cancellation of registration, the person has failed to apply for revocation of cancellation of registration within time limit prescribed under section 30 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Notably, Amnesty Scheme benefit is also available to the person who preferred an appeal against the order cancelling registration or order rejecting application for revocation of cancellation of registration and such appeal is rejected. Such rejection of appeal should be on the ground of failure to satisfy the time limit prescribed under section 30.

Amnesty available –

Registered person can apply for revocation of cancellation of GST registration up to 30^th June 2023.

Conditions to be satisfied for availing benefit under Amnesty Scheme –

Notably, revocation application can be filed on satisfying the following conditions –

1. All the pending returns up to the effective date of cancellation of registration are furnished, and
2. All the pending dues (i.e. tax, interest, penalty and late fee) are cleared.

Amnesty for deemed withdrawal of assessment order issued under section 62 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 [Notification no. 06/2023- Central Tax dated 31^st March 2023] –

Applicability –

The benefit under the Amnesty Scheme is available only if the following conditions are satisfied –

1. Registered person has failed to file a valid return within 30 days from date of the service of assessment order being issued under section 62(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017,
2. Such assessment order should have been issued on or before 28^th February 2023.

Amnesty available –

The assessment order so issued will be deemed to have been withdrawn on satisfying the prescribed conditions.

Conditions to be satisfied for availing benefit under Amnesty Scheme –

Notably, the prescribed conditions to be satisfied for deemed withdrawal of assessment order are –

1. Registered person furnishes the valid return on or before 30^th June 2023,
2. Applicable interest under section 50(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 is paid along with the return,
3. Applicable late fee under section 47 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 is also paid along with the return.