GST Annual Return
All about filing the form GSTR -9
The regime to file the Income Tax returns for registered tax-payers is the GSTR – 9. The prime motive of the GSTR-9 annual returns is to include all the business transactions in one place, leave no space for unrecorded transactions. It is the best attempt made by the GST council to simplify the tax return filing process for the tax-payers. The returns under this regime are to be filed once in a year, before the financial year end, on 31st December. Though there has been an exception made in the recent announcement and, the last date for filing of the return has been extended to 30th June 2019. All the tax heads namely CGST, SGST and IGST relating to each and every purchase and sales transaction have to be entered in GSTR – 9.
Types of forms and annual returns
GSTR – 9
This form is to be filled in and submitted by each and every periodic or regular tax-payer who has been filling the GSTR 1 and GSTR 3B.
GSTR – 9A
The tax-payers who have registered themselves under the composition scheme of GST need to file the GSTR – 9A. It is basically the summary of the previously filed quarterly returns, done by the composition tax-payer. (Proviso to Sub Rule (1) of Rule 80).
GSTR – 9C
This tax return is basically a reconciliation statement for the tax-payers who have an annual turnover surpassing the base of 2 crores within one financial year. This is the common form for individuals of all the states and the concerned individual filing the returns have to get their accounts audited by any of the Chartered Accountants or even the Cost Accountants and then file a copy of the same audited accounts. There are also two other norms to be sent in with the return, i.e. individuals must file the already paid tax’s reconciliation statement and details containing the future payables.
The due date of filing the returns
The due date for filing of this return can vary as per the government, as the government holds the sole power of altering them. The base date for filing a tax return for a year is the end of the subsequent year (31st December).
The due date for filing the tax returns for the FY 2017-18 has been extended to 30th June 2019, but the date for filing the Tax returns for the FY 2018-19 remains to be 31st December 2019 as per the present norms.
People exempted from the filing
Registered tax-payers are required to file tax under this scheme irrespective of NIL transactions or otherwise. If there are NIL transactions as the year ended, then a NIL Annual Return is to be filed, the same is the case if a tax-payer cancels his/her registration for the year, the return has to be filed. But, there are few people who are exempted from the scheme and they are: -
- Input service distributors
- Non-resident taxable persons
- Casual taxable persons
- Persons paying tax under section 51 or 52 (i.e., persons paying TDS)
As mentioned earlier, the taxpayers who have opted for a composition scheme need to file GSTR – 9A in the place of GSTR 9.
Make sure you take these into consideration
- Returns have to be filed before the due date to prevent any kind of penalties.
- Incorrect data entered can lead to tax demands, interest and penalties, so you need to make sure the data entered is true and correct.
- Wrongful entries can also result in long term litigation following years later.
- The principal source of preparing GSTR – 9 is GSTR – 1 and GSTR – 3B.
- Make sure you cross-check all the information entered with the books of accounts before finally submitting in the annual returns.
- The division of GST – 9 is made in 6 parts and appropriate information is to be fetched.
Penalties for late filing of tax returns
Section 47 of the GST Act deals with the penalties with respect to the delay in filing a tax return under GSTR – 9. The penalty for late filing is to be compensated with a late fee which is applicable on a per day basis. Any failure to file the tax return under this scheme requires the individual to pay INR 200 per day, which is divided under 100 for CGST and 100 for SGST, however, there is no late fee applicable for IGST. The maximum amount up to which an individual can be fined depends upon the calculation as per the quarter percentage of the tax payer’s turnover in the concerned state or union territory.
Conclusion
The modes of filing GSTR – 9, GSTR- 9A and GSTR – 9C annual returns are both online as well as offline. The return can be filled online directly on the GST common portal or offline by downloading an Excel template which can be later on updated on the GST portal.
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