GST Council in its 31st meeting, held on 22-12-2018, proposed relief for non-filers by waiving late fee for filing returns GSTR-3B, GSTR-1 and GSTR-4 for the months/quarters starting from July 2017 to September 2018. This will be major relief for those who are not filed the returns due to various reasons and not filed due the reason of paying fines.

The due dates for filing annual return and submission of reconciliation statement in Form GSTR-9, GSTR 9A and GSTR 9C furhter extended to 30th June, 2018.

Input tax credit related to financial year 2017-18 can be claimed till the due date of furnishing Form GSTR-3B for the month of March, 2019.

In addition to be changes, the GST council recommended reduction in GST rates of various products and services.

Other Major Recommendations

1. Single Cash ledger for each tax head – Will be implemented shortly
2. Single authority for disbursement of refunds – will be implemented shorlty
3. New return filing system will be introduced by 01-04-2019 and will be mandatory from 01-07-2019
4. Form GSTR-8 by e-commerce operators for the months October to December 2018 extended  till 31-01-2018.
5. All supporting documents for refund to be uploaded electronically. The same will be enabled in the common portal shortly.
6. E-way bill can’t be generated by those who had defaulted in filing returns for two quarters.

To see the decisions, please see the press release below: