The central government on Friday decided to grant taxpayers a one-day extension to file their monthly goods and services tax returns (GSTR-3B) because of some technical glitches in the GST portal on Thursday.
“The GST Implementation Committee of GST Council has approved extension of the due date of filing GSTR-3B return for the month of September 2022, for the monthly filers, from 20th October, 2022 to 21st October 2022. The notification in this regard is under process,” the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) said on Friday.
“The decision was taken after several taxpayers raised the issue yesterday and it was found as a genuine concern that was also acknowledged by the portal administrator [goods and services tax network or GSTN],” a government official said requesting anonymity.
Normally, business enterprises are required to file transaction details of the previous month by the 20th day of the next month to avoid penalty. GSTR-3B is a monthly summary statement of business transactions filed by a registered entity.
“Taxpayers have reported slowness in portal while filing GSTR 3B return today. The persistence of the issue is acknowledged. Technical teams are working to resolve the issue. An incident report has been sent to CBIC for considering extension in the return filing dates,” official handle of GSTN for info and updates – @Infosys_GSTN – said in a tweet on Thursday.
{{/usCountry}}“Taxpayers have reported slowness in portal while filing GSTR 3B return today. The persistence of the issue is acknowledged. Technical teams are working to resolve the issue. An incident report has been sent to CBIC for considering extension in the return filing dates,” official handle of GSTN for info and updates – @Infosys_GSTN – said in a tweet on Thursday.
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“The intent of a one-day time extension has been expressed by the government on Friday afternoon only. That too, notification to this effect is still awaited. Hence, proper extension should have been given as it is a technical fault of GSTN. The system failure on a crucial filing day caused immense problems for taxpayers,” a Delhi-based chartered account said requesting anonymity.
Saket Patwari, executive director at consultancy firm Nexdigm, said taxpayers have faced such technical issue after a long time, and with the government gradually moving towards automated GST compliances, it won’t be surprising if such incidents are experienced in the future due to increase in portal traffic.
“However, it is commendable that the GST Council has taken cognizance of the matter and approved an extension, thereby mitigating any interest and penal implication on delayed filing. Yet, an early announcement could have eased the burden on the taxpayers who had to rigorously work till late last night,” he said.