GST Council to discuss waiver of late fee for August 2017 to January 2020; next meeting to be held on 14 June

New Delhi: The GST Council in its next meeting will discuss waiver of late fee for non-filing of GST returns for August 2017 to January 2020 period.In a tweet, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said, "Issue of GST late fee for the past period (August 2017 to January 2020) to be discussed in the next GST Council meeting."The next meeting of the GST Council is likely to be held on 14 June.The CBIC said there have been demands for waiver of late fee for returns which were required to be filed from the beginning of Goods and Services Tax (GST), that is August 2017.For helping small businesses, having turnover of less than Rs 5 crore, in the current situation arising out of COVID-19, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had already announced extension of GST returns of February, March, April and May 2020 till June 2020.No late fee will be charged for this period, it said. The CBIC said late fee is imposed to ensure that the taxpayers file return in time and pay taxes on the amount collected from buyers and due to the government.This is a step to ensure that a certain discipline is maintained regarding compliance. Honest and compliant taxpayers would be discriminated negatively in the absence of such a provision, it added."In GST all decisions are taken by the Centre and the state with the approval of the GST Council. It would not be possible or desirable for the Central government to unilaterally take a view on this issue and therefore, the trade is informed that the issue of late fee would be taken up for discussion in the next GST Council meeting," it said.