Govt notifies changes after GST Council meet

Days after the GST Council meeting, the government notified several changes to the rules, including exempting companies with turnover up to Rs 2 crore from filing returns for last financial year, besides interest on delayed filing only on cash component.

“It is a relief for companies as interest will only be levied on cash part (leaving tax credit out), which could have otherwise led to litigation,” said M S Mani, partner at Deloitte India.

Besides, changes such as allowing UPI and IMPS for payment of GST are seen to be helpful for small businesses and individuals.

There are other provisions, which may not be as welcome for businesses, with the government deciding to levy interest on wrongful utilisation of input tax credit. Besides, businesses and consultants are worried over the provision to extend the time limit for issuance of notice for recovery of GST for 2017-18, up to September 30, 2023. This excludes the period from March 1, 2020 to February 28, 2022 for computation of the period of limitation.

“Considering the Covid scenario, the government has extended the limitation period under GST for issuance of notice to taxpayers who have not paid or short-paid tax dues.

Similarly, relaxation in limitation is granted for filing refunds. While the intention is to curb revenue leakage, this change keeps businesses exposed to departmental audits and assessments. This being said, this change also ensures that genuine taxpayers are not denied their refund claims,” said Abhishek Jain, partner for indirect tax at consulting firm KPMG in India.