Due to difficulties in filing GSTR-1 online, the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) recommended on Thursday that the due date of filing GSTR-1 be extended by one day to April 12, 2024, from April 11, 2024. However, at the time of publishing this article at 2 pm, there was no notification from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) regarding an extension of the deadline. Having said that, the GSTN portal after logging in shows that the revised deadline as April 12, 2024.
“GSTN has noticed that taxpayers are facing difficulties in filing GSTR-1 intermittently since yesterday due to technical issues leading to slow response on the portal. GSTN has accordingly recommended to CBIC that the due date for filing of GSTR-1 for the monthly taxpayers be extended by a day i.e. till 12/4/24,” said GSTN on their website as of April 12, 2024, as well as on X (formerly Twitter)
The deadline for filing GSTR-1 may have been extended?
GST experts say that the deadline has not yet been extended officially as no circular has been issued. A circular from CBIC is awaited for the same. As mentioned above, the GSTN portal reflects the revised deadline as April 12, 2024, for filing GSTR-1.
The screengrab below shows that after log in the portal says the new deadline as 12 April 2024 for GSTR-1.
Source: GST Portal – as shared by Parth Joshi, a CA based in Ahmedabad. There have been talks of CBIC issuing the extension circular soon. “Highly placed sources have told me that CBIC would issue a communication regarding the extension of the GSTR-1 filing deadline as recommended by the GSTN. However, until an official communication from CBIC comes the deadline is not extended,” said chartered accountant Bimal Jain, founder, A2Z Taxcorp LLP, a tax and business consulting firm.”After the Thursday’s night announcement on X (formerly twitter) by GSTN, the GST Portal is now showing the due date as 12th April i.e. extended date. We can expect an Official Notification for date extension from CBIC soon,” said Parth R. Joshi, A CA based in Ahmedabad. According to Advocate Apoorv Phillips, Senior Associate, Sirmacs Consultancy, an indirect taxation consulting firm, “Though the GSTN Portal had issued a recommendation to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to issue a notification extending the deadline for filing of GSTR-1, as of 13.00 PM on 12th of April, 2024 CBIC not uploaded any notification on the official website of CBIC, nor on their X (formerly known as Twitter) handle, extending the said date.”
“For all of our clients we filed GSTR-1 yesterday thinking that the deadline would not be extended. However, the communication from GSTN about the deadline being recommended to be extended came at around 9 pm which was too late. The GSTN website has been facing issues since April 10, 2024, so ideally, they should have made this recommendation at that time and not at the last hour,” says chartered accountant Chirag Chauhan, a practicing CA from Mumbai.
“If CBIC extends the deadline then it would be only for those GST- registered persons who file GSTR-1 on a monthly basis,” says Chauhan.
What will happen if GSTR-1 is not filed?
The due date for filing GSTR-1 is the 11th day of the succeeding month for which the form is being filed for those taxpayers who file it monthly. For those taxpayers who file GSTR-1 quarterly, the due date is the 13th day of the month succeeding the end of every quarter. .
A late fee is required to be paid if you file it after the deadline. “In case where the registered person files his/her GSTR-1, today, i.e. on 12th of April, and where CBIC does not issue any notification, the registered person would have to pay a late fee for filing his GSTR-1,” says Philips.
Experts say that the non-filing of GSTR-1 has even more grave consequences than just late fees. “Where the registered person altogether does not file his/her GSTR-1 Return, whether on account of late fee or otherwise, the buyer, where he/she is not the end user will face problem while claiming his/her Input Tax Credit (ITC), as the buyer cannot claim Input Tax Credit in his/her GSTR-3B until the supplier files GSTR-1 Return,” says Philips.
Why did the GSTN website malfunction on such a crucial day?
According to Chauhan, the issue might be due to insufficient server capacity of the GSTN website. “Many Taxpayers are facing issues with login and slow GSTN portal today including our office. As the volume and number of registered GST users increase, CBIC should invest in good servers and hardware capacity for the smooth functioning of the GST portal during due dates,” he says.
What experts recommend CBIC do to help taxpayers
Jain from A2Z Taxcorp LLP has a suggestion for CBIC. “The GST portal has its own limitations but looking at the number of GST registered users, the government should increase the GSTN website’s server capacity to handle so many users. The GST council should implement GSTR-1 and GSTR 3B filing in a staggered manner depending on the threshold turnover of registered persons. Having different dates for different categories will not cause stress on the GSTN portal’s process capacity,” says Jain.
Source Link
