The Centre has received requests from several traders’ bodies to move the deadline for filing GST ahead. Also, CAIT (Confederation of All India Traders) already wrote to the finance minister, Sitharaman for the extension of various GSTR returns and also removing the late fee and interest.
On 28th May 2021, the 43rd GST Council proposed an amnesty scheme that is structured to reduce the late fee burden on small and medium taxpayers. The council chaired by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman took place through video conferencing and Anurag Thakur, the MoS (Minister of state) for finance also attended the meeting along with UT and state finance ministers and senior officers.
Highlights from the conference
- Import Duty on Covid-19 relief items brought from abroad will be exempted till 31st August 2021 as per the GST Council’s decision.
- Import of Covid-related relief items will be exempted from IGST.
- An amnesty scheme has been introduced to reduce the burden of the late fee payable by small and medium-sized taxpayers.
- Now taxpayers will be able to file returns while availing the benefits of the amnesty scheme.
- The amount of late fees has also been reduced.
- The process of annual return filing has also been simplified now.