GSTR-3B date extended for those opting to avail transitional credit

[Bimal jain]

The GST Council had earlier decided to defer the filing of return in Form GSTR-3 and had recommended the filing of return in Form GSTR-3B for the month of July and August, 2017. Accordingly, the Central Government vide Notification No. 21/2017-Central Tax dated August 8, 2017 had notified the last date for filing of return in Form GSTR-3B for the month of July, 2017 as August 20, 2017.

Recently, concerns have been raised by the trade about availability of transitional credit for discharging the tax liability for the month of July, 2017 as there was no separate column for the same in Form GSTR-3B. In this regard, the Commissioner on recommendations of the GST Council vide Notification No. 23/2017-Central Tax dated August 17, 2017 read with Press Releases dated August 17, 2017, has specified the date and conditions for filing the return in Form GSTR-3B in the following manner:

Sl. No.	Class of registered persons	Last date for furnishing of return in Form GSTR-3B	Conditions
A.	Registered persons entitled to avail input tax credit (“ITC”) in terms of section 140 of the CGST Act, 2017 read with Rule 117 of the CGST Rules, 2017 but opting not to file Form GST TRAN-1 on or before the August 28, 2017	August 20, 2017	------
B.	Registered persons entitled to avail ITC in terms of section 140 of the CGST Act, 2017 readwith Rule 117 of the CGST Rules, 2017 and opting to file Form GST TRAN-1 on or before the August 28,2017	August 28, 2017	Compute the “tax payable” for the month of July, 2017 and deposit the same in cash onor before the August 20, 2017, which will get credited to electronic cash ledger; File Form GST TRAN-1 (which will be available on the common portal from August 21, 2017) before the filing of Form GSTR-3B; Where the amount of tax payable for the month of July, 2017, as detailed in the return furnished in Form GSTR-3B, exceeds the amount of tax deposited in cash as per item (i), the registered person shall pay such excess amount in cash on or before August 28, 2017 along with the applicable interest @18% calculated from the 21st day of August, 2017 till the date of such deposit. This amount will also get credited to electronic cash ledger. File the return in Form GSTR-3B on or before August 28, 2017 after discharging the tax liability by debiting the electronic credit or cash ledger.
C.	Any other registered person	August 20, 2017	------

Steps to be followed in aforementioned Case A& C: Assessee not opting to avail transitional credit

Where registered persons planning not to avail transitional credit for discharging the tax liability for the month of July, 2017 or new registrants who do not have any transitional credit to avail, need to follow the steps as detailed below:

1. Calculate the tax payable as per the following formula:

Tax payable = (Output tax liability + Tax payable under reverse charge) – input tax credit availed for the month of July, 2017;

2. Tax payable as per (i) above to be deposited in cash on or before August 20, 2017 which will get credited to electronic cash ledger;
3. File the return in FORM GSTR-3B on or before August 20, 2017 after discharging the tax liability by debiting the electronic credit or cash ledger.

Steps to be followed in aforementioned Case B: Assessee opting to avail transitional credit

Registered persons planning to avail transitional credit for discharging the tax liability for the month of July, 2017 need to follow the steps as detailed below:

1. Calculate the tax payable as per the following formula:

Tax payable = (Output tax liability + Tax payable under reverse charge) – (transitional credit + input tax credit availed for the month of July, 2017);

2. Tax payable as per (i) above to be deposited in cash on or before August 20, 2017 which will get credited to electronic cash ledger;
3. File FORM GST TRAN-1 (which will be available on the common portal from August 21, 2017) before filing the return in FORM GSTR-3B;
4. In case the tax payable as per the return in FORM GSTR-3B is greater than the cash amount deposited as per (ii) above, deposit the balance in cash along with interest @18% calculated from August 21, 2017 till the date of such deposit. This amount will also get credited to electronic cash ledger;
5. File the return in FORM GSTR-3B on or before August 28, 2017 after discharging the tax liability by debiting the electronic credit or cash ledger

Please click below for details:

Notification-http://www.cbec.gov.in/resources//htdocs-cbec/gst/notfctn-23-central-tax-english.pdf

Press Release-http://www.cbec.gov.in/resources//htdocs-cbec/press-release/press-note-gstr-form-3B.pdf

Press Release-http://www.cbec.gov.in/resources//htdocs-cbec/press-release/press-release-gst-transitional-credit.pdf

Hope the information will assist you in your Professional endeavours. In case of any query/ information, please do not hesitate to write back to us.

Thanks & Best Regards,                                                    

Bimal Jain