Government extends last date for filing annual GST return for FY19 by 3 months till September

More time to file goods and services tax (GST) return for the financial year 2019 and the option for some assessees to file tax returns using short message service (SMS) are among fresh relief measures for businesses that the government has granted.

The due date for filing the annual return and GST audit report for FY19 has been extended till 30 September 2020, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said in a notification.

The option to file returns through SMS, which will enable an assessee to file 'nil return’ for a tax period, has been inserted through an amendment to Central GST rules of 2017. The date from which this will be effective will be specified later, the CBIC said in a separate notification issued late on Tuesday night. Such ‘nil return’ have to be filed using the registered mobile number of the taxpayer and it will be verified by a one time password, said the notification. According to Abhishek Jain, a tax partner at EY, with most parts of the country under a lockdown or partial lockdown, it would have been difficult for the industry to meet the earlier timeline of June ends for filing the FY19 annual returns. “The extension provides the much-needed relief to the industry and demonstrates the accommodative stance of the government," said Jain.

In another relief, the government has given a second extension to all e-way bills generated on or before 24 March, where the period of validity expires between 20 March and 15 April. This time, the extension is till 31 May, explained Rajat Mohan, senior partner at AMRG & Associates, a chartered accountants firm. Last week, the government had offered relief on certain compliance-related disclosures in income tax audit reports, which also includes reporting of GST-related compliance as the direct and indirect administrations have in recent years been working closely together and sharing data to improve overall tax compliance.