Even as the government had earlier this month offered taxpayers a late fee waiver for filing GSTR-3B monthly returns for March and April and reduced interest rates for late payments, a majority of small businesses, startups, and traders are still seeking no penalty and interest relaxations on GST late payment and return filing till June 30, 2021. Small businesses have been urging for the deadline extension for GST payments as most units have suffered Covid impact including temporary shutdowns or negligible operations. A majority of micro entrepreneurs and traders still work on a paper-based approach where manual interfacing between them and their accountant takes place to finalise GST details and thereafter an electronic payment is made between the business owner and the accountant following which the latter pays the final GST to the government.
“GST payment deadline falls on 24th of every month. A majority of small businesses have been in shutdown mode across India since early or mid-April and for many of them filing and paying GST requires in-person coordination with their accountant which hasn’t been possible due to lockdown in most states across India,” Sachin Taparia, Founder & Chairman, LocalCircles told Financial Express Online.
Source : Financial Express
