The Ministry of Finance has announced changes in compliance requirements under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime to provide relief to businesses affected by Covid-19.

The reliefs include an extension of the GST return filing deadline, a reduced late fee amount, and even a late fee waiver in some cases These changes have been made in response to the GST Council's recommendations.

Businesses with an aggregated turnover of over Rs 5 crore in the previous financial year will be exempt from paying a late fee if they fail to file their GSTR-3B returns within 15 days of the due date in March and April.

The late fee is waived for businesses with an aggregate turnover of up to Rs 5 crore for up to 30 days of late payment during the two months. The 30-day window applies to taxpayers with an aggregate turnover of up to Rs 5 crore for the January-March 2021 period.

The deadline to file a return in Form GSTR-4 under the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, has been pushed back a month to May 31, 2021.

The government has also extended the deadline for submitting the Form GST ITC-04 declaration in regards to goods dispatched to or received from a job worker from January 1 to March 31, 2021, to May 31, 2021.

While the time limit for furnishing the details of outward supplies for the April 2021 tax period, in Form GSTR-1 has been extended till May 26, the government notification informed that businesses could file returns in Form GSTR-3B cumulatively for the period April and May, with the cumulative adjustment of the input tax credit. Details of April will have to be furnished by May 28.

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