ALL ABOUT INTERIM GST RETURN-3B

[Dr. Sanjiv Agarwal]

GST Returns to be filed at a glance

Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) vide Notification No. 18/2017, 19/2017, 20/2017 & 21/2017- Central Tax dated 08.08.2017 has relaxed / extended the due dates and time frame for filing GST returns for the initial two months of GST regime i.e., July, 2017 & August 2017. As a result, the GST payable will be required to be paid on the basis of Form GSTR-3B to be filed by the 20th of the succeeding month. Form GSTR-3B for July, 2017 was to be filed by 20.08.2017 and for August, 2017 by 20.09.2017. However, the invoice wise details to be furnished as per GST rules in GSTR-1, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 shall be filed later as per following schedule (as on 25.09.2017):

Return Form	Period / Due Date for July 2017 return
GSTR-1 (with turnover > INR 100 crore)	Upto 03.10.2017
GSTR-1 (other than above)	Upto 10.10.2017
GSTR-2	Upto 31.10.2017
GSTR-3	Upto 10.11.2017

Notes:

1. The last date for making payment for July, 2017 was 25th August, 2017 for return GSTR-3B to be filed by 25/28 August, 2017 and for August, 2017, last date was 20^th September, 2017.
2. Payment of tax through NEFT/RTGS may take time to get reflected in cash ledger and without payment getting reflected in cash ledger, return cannot be filed.
3. If an assessee is not able to avail transition credit now, it can be utilized later also as it will get credited to electronic ledger of assessee provided Form GST TRAN-I is filed within 90 days.
4. The revised dates are as per Notification No. 29/2017-Central Tax dated 05.09.2017 and as further amended by Notification No. 30/2017-Central Tax dated 11.09.2017 for July, 2017.
5. Revised timelines for August, 2017 shall be notified later.

GSTR-3B Return

What is GSTR-3B

GSTR 3B is a simple return form introduced by the CBEC for the month of July and August. One must file a separate GSTR 3B for each GSTIN number. No need to provide invoice level information in this form. Only total values for each field have to be provided, this value must be for the month for which you are filing. The last date to file GSTR-3B and payment of taxes is 20^th day of the following months. However, GSTR-3B can be submitted only after making payment of GST due.

However, GST Council in its 21^st meeting held on 09.09.2017 has decided for filing of Form GSTR-3B till December, 2017, i.e. for 6 months vide Notification No. 35/2017-Central Tax dated 15.09.2017.

Who has to filed GSTR – 3B

Form GSTR-3B has to be file mandatorily by all normal registered tax payers. Even in case of no business, 'Nil' returns are to be filed.

Form GSTR-3B is not required to be filed by Input Service Distributor (ISD), non-resident person, tax collector at source (for TCS), tax deductor at source (for TDS) and dealers under composition scheme.

Details to be provided in GSTR-3B

• Basic information.
• Summary  of outward supplies and inward supplies liable to reverse charge.
• Summary of inter-State supplies made to unregistered persons, composition taxable persons and UIN holders.
• Summary of eligible and ineligible ITC.
• Value of exempt, nil-rated and non-GST inward supplies.
• Summary of payment of Tax.
• Summary of TDS / TCS credit.

How to file GSTR-3B Return

1. After login, select Return Dashboard
2. Select financial year 2017-18 and month and then click search and select GSTR-3B
3. Declare the liabilities and ITC claims in Section 3.1 and 4 respectively by clicking on the tiles and furnishing the required information.  Transitional ITC cannot be claimed in GSTR 3B. It can be claimed only through Form TRANS-1 and Form TRANS-2.
4. Enter details of interest, if payable, in section 5.1. Late fee will be computed by the system
5. Click on Save GSTR-3B After you save the data, Submit button will get enabled. It may be noted that after submitting, no modification is possible. Hence ensure that details are filled correctly before clicking on Submit button.
6. On clicking Submit GSTR-3B button, system will post (debit) the self-assessed liabilities including system generated late fee in Liability Register and credit the claimed ITC into ITC ledger.
7. After this, the Payment of Tax tile will be enabled, click it and declare the payment details to pay the taxes and offset the liability.
8. Click CHECK BALANCE button to view the balance available for credit under Integrated Tax, Central Tax, State Tax and Cess. (This includes transitional credit also, if TRAN-1 and 2 are submitted). This will enable to check the balance before making the payment for the respective minor heads. The balance is also displayed when the mouse is hovered on the applicable data entry field in payment section.
9. The section that specifies set-off of liabilities using a combination of cash and ITC has to be filled.
   • System checks there is sufficient Cash/ITC balance.
   • It also checks if the reverse charge liabilities are set-off only through CASH.
   • System also checks if all liabilities are set-off. Part payment is not allowed in GSTR-3B. Hence, it should be ensured that sufficient balance in Cash and ITC Ledger is there to offset liability
   • In case of ITC utilizations, the system checks the prioritization rules viz. IGST Credit has to be first utilized for paying IGST liability  and remaining for  CGST liability and thereafter SGST liability; SGST credit  has to be first used for paying SGST liability and then IGST liability; CGST Credit has to be first used for CGST liability and the remaining for IGST Liability; SGST credit cannot be used for paying CGST liability and CGST credit cannot be used for paying SGST liability
   • Transition ITC, if  available in ITC ledger, can be used for payment of liabilities of GSTR 3B
10. Click the Offset Liability button to pay off the liabilities   
11. Click on declaration statement
12. Select Authorized Signatory filing the Form
13. Click on File GSTR-3B button with DSC or EVC
14. Message for successful filing will appear and Acknowledgement will get generated

Consequences of Non-filing

No late fees and / or penalty may be levied for the interim period as clarified by CBEC it its Press release dated 18.07.2017. The same was also notified vide Notification No. 28/2017-Central Tax dated 01.09.2017.

Thus, Form GSTR-3B is a temporary return required to be filed till December, 2017 on a monthly basis. This is only a summary return enabling the GSTN to capture basic details to support payment. There is no provision for revising GSTR-3B and as such, it should be carefully filled and filed normal returns in any case will be required to be filed as per law.