GST Council proposes interest, penalty waiver on tax dues
waive interest and penalties on past tax demands, reduced the pre-deposit amount for filing appeals, fixed monetary limits for appeals against assessees at various legal forums and set a sunset date for anti-profiteering cases in a range of decisions aimed at easing doing business in the country.
“Our intent is to make GST assessees’ life easier, simpler and less cumbersome… We are working towards less and less compliance,” Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, chairperson of the body, told reporters after the council’s 53rd meeting that was held in the capital.
The council will take up pending reform measures when it meets next, likely by August end. Saturday’s measures by the council at its first meeting after the formation of the new government at the Centre could bring relief to multiple sectors, including shipping, airlines, insurance and nonbanking financial companies (NBFCs) facing large tax demands, said experts.
“Waiver of interest and penalty for past GST demands is a great step which would hopefully bring down the litigation to some extent,” said Pratik Jain, partner, PwC India.
Some Exemptions to be Allowed
Sitharaman said the council had taken a number of decisions on trade facilitation and easing the compliance burden that will benefit traders, MSMEs and other businesses.
GST authorities will now be able to conditionally waive interest and penalties on tax notices issued between 2017 and 2020, barring cases of wilful default. The condition here is that the full tax demanded is paid up to
