Big Relief For Businesses: Deadline For GST Annual Return Extended To 31 March 2019, Forms To Be Available Soon

In welcome relief to countless firms, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has announced a decision to extend the deadline for filing GST annual return forms from 31 December 2018 to 31 March 2019, reports The Economic Times.

As per the CBIC’s statement, GSTR-9, form GSTR-9A and form GSTR-9C can now be filed till March 31, 2019. The forms will be available on the GST common portal shortly, as per the statement.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) had on Thursday (6 December) requested Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to extend the deadline to March 31 2019, citing the fact that the format for filing annual GST returns was not available at the GST website, nor anywhere else.

Partner at KPMG India, Pryajit Ghosh, stated, “The first time annual compliances are new and many nuances are not too well understood even by many large taxpayers. The extended timeline would provide a big relief to the taxpayers to understand the issues and the Government to run an effective awareness campaign and resolve the open points.”

GST Rules prescribe a number of different forms for the annual return, depending on the category of the taxpayer. A failure to file the annual return by the deadline will attract a penalty of Rs 200 per day of delay, up to a maximum of 0.25 per cent of that Financial Year’s turnover.