GST Council Meeting: GSTR- 3B, GSTR- 1 filing extended by 3 months

March 15, 2018

On 10.03.2018 the 26^th meeting of the GST Council was held in New Delhi. The following suggestions were made in it: Return filing system: The current mechanism of filing of GSTR- 3B and GSTR- 1 has been extended by another 3 months i.e., from April to June 2018 till the new return system is decided. A new model was discussed extensively and the Group of Ministers on IT has been given the responsibility to finalize the same. Reverse charge mechanism: The liability to pay tax on reverse charge basis has also been delayed till 30.06.2018. Meanwhile, a Group of Ministers will look into the procedure of its implementation to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to the trade and industry. TDS/ TCS: The provisions for Deduction of Tax at source (TDS) under Section- 51 of the CGST Act and Collection of Tax at source (TCS) under Section- 52 of the CGST Act shall remain suspended till 30.06.2018. In the meantime, the procedure of linking State and Central Governments accounting system with GSTN will be worked out so that consistent credit is available to the registered traders whose tax is deducted or collected at source. Grievance Redressal Mechanism: GST Implementation Committee (GIC) has been given the responsibility of the work of addressing the grievances caused to the taxpayers arising out of IT glitches. Extension of tax exemptions on imported goods In addition to this, the GST Council has decided to extend the present tax exemptions on imported goods for a further 6 months beyond 31.03.2018. Thus, exporters presently availing various export promotion schemes can now continue to avail such exemptions on their imports up to 01.10.2018, by which time an e-Wallet scheme is expected to be in place to continue the advantages in future. In a related development which would benefit the exporters, the Council reviewed the progress in a grant of refunds to exports of both IGST and Input Tax Credit. The Council admired that the speed of grant of IGST refund has increased. Thereafter, the Council directed GSTN to expeditiously forward the balance refund claims to the Customs/ Central GST/ State GST authorities, as the case may be, for their instant sanction and disbursal. The final solution agreed to by the Council was to introduce an e-Wallet scheme w.e.f. 01.04.2018. The e-Wallet scheme is basically the formation of electronic e-Wallets, which would be credited with virtual currency by the DGFT. This virtual currency would be used by the exporters to make the payment of GST/ IGST on the goods imported by them so their funds are not blocked.