The GST Council has extended the deadline for GST return filing by one month to Aug 30 as against the earlier date of June 30. The council has also approved penalty for not paying profiteering charges, in its 35th meeting held today in the national capital under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. If the profiteered amount is not paid up to 30 days of order then there will be a penalty of 10 per cent on the erring company. The new GST return filing system will be applicable from 1 Jan 2020. Only one GST return per year from 2020, said Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan.
The GST Council has sent the proposal for a rate cut on electric chargers and electric vehicles to the fitment committee which will take a relook at the rate reduction on them. The tenure of National Anti-Profiteering authority has also been extended to two years. The Anti-Profiteering Authority has been constituted under central goods and services tax act, 2017 to ensure that the reduction in the rate of tax or the benefit of the input tax credit is passed on to the recipient by way of commensurate reduction in prices.
The GST Council also approved proposal barring e-way bill generation if returns for over 2 months are not filed. It also approved setting up of GST appellate tribunals or GSTAT in 26 states. The states will decide the number of tribunals required by them as some states may require more than one tribunal. It has also approved the proposal for the introduction of electronic invoicing, according to reports.
“We have clearly emphasised simplification is the route. The objective should be towards simplification,” Sitharaman said while briefing the media.
All state finance ministers except Mizoram, Karnataka and Telangana were present in the meeting. The three states had sent their representatives to the meeting. This is the first GST Council meeting under the second tenure of Modi government and also the first meeting under Nirmala Sitharaman, the current finance minister of finance India.