Taxpayers can now change GST returns before paying taxes, small businesses exempt from yearly filings

Representational Image.

GST taxpayers will now have the option to amend outward supply or sales return form GSTR-1 before payment of taxes for a month or quarter.

The GST Council in its meeting on Saturday had recommended providing a new optional facility by way of Form GSTR-1A to facilitate taxpayers to amend the details in Form GSTR-1 for a tax period and/or to declare additional details.

GSTR-1A will, however, have to be filed before filing of return in GSTR-3B for the said tax period.

This will facilitate the taxpayer to add any particulars of supply of the current tax period missed out in reporting in form GSTR-1 of the said tax period or to amend any particulars already declared in GSTR-1 of the current tax period (including those declared in IFF, for the first and second months of a quarter, if any, for quarterly taxpayers), to ensure that correct liability is auto-populated in GSTR-3B.

Currently, GST taxpayers file outward supply return GSTR -1 by the 11th day of the subsequent month. Taxpayers with an annual turnover of up to Rs 5 crore can file GSTR-1 quarterly within the 13th day of the end of the quarter.

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co Partner Rajat Bose said this is a positive change recommended by the council from a compliance perspective and will facilitate ease of doing business.

Abhishek Jain, Indirect Tax Head & Partner, KPMG, said allowing revision of filings made in GSTR-1 is a good move to rectify clerical and inadvertent errors before the payment of taxes and curtailing unwarranted notices for reconciliation of disclosures in GSTR-1 and payment of taxes vide GSTR-3B.

"It'll be interesting to see the mechanism for a population of GSTR-2B for the recipient and the time gap available to the recipient for reconciling credits," Jain added.

BDO India Indirect Tax Partner Maulik Manakiwala said the introduction of Form GSTR-1A to report particulars which were missed during the submission of GSTR 1 indicates that through proactive consultation with industry, the government's intention is to simplify GST law and ease compliances for the assessee.

The GST Council also recommended that taxpayers having aggregate annual turnover up to Rs two crore are exempt from filing annual returns in form GSTR-9/9A for the FY 2023-24.