GST-registered small biz to file 4 sales returns in a year from Jan

From January onwards, small taxpayers would need to file only eight returns (four GSTR-3B and four GSTR-1 returns) in a year, one of the sources said.

New Delhi: Businesses with up to Rs 5 crore turnover will have to file only four GST sales returns, or GSTR-3B, from January instead of 12 at present, according to sources. The Quarterly filing of Return with Monthly Payment (QRMP) Scheme would impact almost 94 lakh taxpayers, about 92 per cent of the total tax base of the goods and services tax (GST), he added.

With this, from January onwards, small taxpayers would need to file only eight returns (four GSTR-3B and four GSTR-1 returns) in a year, one of the sources said. The source further said the scheme also brings in the concept of providing input tax credit (ITC) only on the reported invoices, thereby putting a significant curb on the menace of fake invoice frauds.

Sources in the know of the matter said the QRMP scheme has optional feature of invoice filing facility (IFF) to mitigate business-related hardships for the small and medium taxpayers. Under the facility of IFF, the small taxpayers who opt to be quarterly return filers under the QRMP scheme would be able to upload and file such invoices even in the first and second month of the quarter for which there is a demand from the recipients.

Further, this would engage buyers who earlier used to avoid purchase from the small taxpayers in the want of uploading of invoices in the system on monthly basis, the sources said. According to the sources, the taxpayers would need not upload and file all the invoices for the month and could upload and file only those invoices that are required to be filed in IFF as per demand of the recipients.

The remaining invoices of the first and second months can be uploaded in the quarterly GSTR-1 return. The IFF would be available up to a cut-off date and credit would flow to the recipient after the cut-off date on filing of the IFF, they added. The GST Council in its meeting on October 5 said registered person having an aggregate turnover up to Rs 5 crore may be allowed to furnish return on a quarterly basis along with monthly payment of tax, with effect from January 1, 2021.

With the launch of the QRMP scheme on December 5, taxpayers with up to Rs 5 crore turnover have the option to file their GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B returns quarterly beginning January-March period. Taxpayers can make GST payments through challan every month either by self-assessment of monthly liability or 35 per cent of net cash liability of the previous filed GSTR-3B of the quarter.