Late Fee levied for delay in filing GST Return

Late Fee for delay in filing return under GST:-

In case of delay in filing of GST Return, the law mandates charging of late fee for delay in filing of GST Return. As per Section 47 of CGST Act:

(1) Any registered person who fails to furnish the details of outward or inward supplies required under section 37 or section 38 or returns required under section 39 or section 45 by the due date shall pay a late fee of one hundred rupees for every day during which such failure continues subject to a maximum amount of five thousand rupees.

(2) Any registered person who fails to furnish the return required under section 44 by the due date shall be liable to pay a late fee of one hundred rupees for every day during which such failure continues subject to a maximum of an amount calculated at a quarter per cent. of his turnover in the State or Union territory.

Thus, late fee for GSTR-1, GSTR-2, GSTR-3 (GSTR-3B) is Rs. 100 per day (under CGST) plus Rs. 100 per day (under SGST) up to Rs. 5000 CGST and Rs. 5000 SGST. Therefore, maximum liability under late fees can be up to Rs. 10,000 in aggregate.

It is to be noted that as per Section 128 of CGST Act, 2017 the Government may, by notification, waive in part or full, any penalty referred to in section 122 or section 123 or section 125 or any late fee referred to in section 47 for such class of taxpayers and under such mitigating circumstances as may be specified therein on the recommendations of the Council. In this regard Notification No. 4/2018 – Central Tax has been issued to waive late fee in respect of GSTR-1 and Notification No. 64/2017 – Central Tax for GSTR-3B.

Late Fee for delay in filing of GST Return-GSTR-1
As per Notification No. 4/2018–Central Tax:

The Central Government waives the amount of late fee payable by any registered person for failure to furnish the details of outward supplies for any month/quarter in FORM GSTR-1 by the due date under section 47 of the said Act, which is in excess of an amount of twenty-five rupees for every day during which such failure continues.

Provided that where there are no outward supplies in any month/quarter, the amount of late fee payable by such registered person for failure to furnish the said details by the due date under section 47 of the said Act shall stand waived to the extent which is in excess of an amount of ten rupees for every day during which such failure continues.

Therefore, currently late fee in case of GSTR-1 is as follows:
For NIL GSTR-1 Rs. 10 (under CGST)+Rs.10 (under SGST) per day
For Other Cases Rs. 25 (under CGST)+Rs.25 (under SGST) per day
Further, as per Notification No. 45/2019 – Central Tax:

Time limit for GSTR-1 for the registered persons having aggregate turnover of up to 1.5 crore rupees in the preceding financial year or the current financial year has been extended as follows up to which no late fee is to be charged.

Similarly, as per Notification No. 46/2019 – Central Tax

Time limit for GSTR-1 for registered persons having aggregate turnover of more than 1.5 crore rupees in the preceding financial year or the current financial year has been extended as follows up to which no late fee is to be charged.

Late Fee for delay in filing of GST Return-GSTR-3B
As per Notification No. 64/2017 – Central Tax:

The Central Government waives the amount of late fee payable by any registered person for failure to furnish the details of outward supplies for any month in FORM GSTR-3B by the due date under section 47 of the said Act, which is in excess of an amount of twenty-five rupees for every day during which such failure continues.

Provided that where there are no outward supplies in any month, the amount of late fee payable by such registered person for failure to furnish the said details by the due date under section 47 of the said Act shall stand waived to the extent which is in excess of an amount of ten rupees for every day during which such failure continues.

Further, as per Notification No. 07/2020 – Central Tax:

Time limit for GSTR-3B for the registered persons having aggregate turnover of up to 5 crore rupees in the preceding financial year whose principal place of business is in specified states* up to which no late fee is to be charged.

For other registered persons in these states, the time limit would be 20th day of succeeding month.

*Specified states include Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand or Odisha or the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh and Delhi.

 
For more information on interest on late Payment of GST: Visit Interest on late payment of GST
For more information on extended due date for filing GST Return’s: Visit Due Date for filing GST Return’s