Govt extends April GST payment date till May 24 amid tech glitches

To facilitate taxpayers facing technical glitches on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) portal, the government has extended the tax payment deadline for the month of April till May 24. The extension in the deadline comes a day after the finance ministry’s indirect tax wing Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) directed Infosys Ltd, which maintains the GST platform, to address certain tech glitches with the GST portal at the earliest.

The CBIC decision to extend the due date is expected to benefit thousands of taxpayers, who were facing issues and can now file their returns till May 24.

In a late-night tweet on May 17, the finance ministry's central board of indirect taxes and customs wing said the last date to furnish tax returns has been extended to May 24. "In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (6) of section 39 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (12 of 2017) read with sub-rule (1) of rule 61 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, the Commission, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby extends the due date for furnishing the return in Form GSTR-3B for the month of April 2022 till May 24, 2022."

The due date of payment of tax for the month of April 2022 by taxpayers under the QRMP (Quarterly Returns Monthly Payment) scheme in Form GST PMT-06 has also been extended till May 27. Also, the CBIC said the due date for filing monthly GSTR-5A returns for the month of April 2022 is May 20, 2022.

The CBIC in its earlier communication had said that it could consider extending the tax payment deadline for April in the wake of difficulties being faced by taxpayers. As per the CBIC, the taxpayers were facing issues in the generation of April 2022 GSTR-2B and GSTR-3B forms.

"A technical glitch has been reported by @Infosys_GSTN in the generation of April 22 GSTR-2B and auto-population of GSTR-3B on the portal. Infosys has been directed by Govt for early resolution. A technical team is working to provide GSTR-2B and correct auto-populated GSTR-3B at the earliest," CBIC had tweeted.

The due date of payment of tax for the month of April 2022 by taxpayers under the QRMP (Quarterly Returns Monthly Payment) scheme in Form GST PMT-06 has also been extended till May 27. Also, the CBIC said the due date for filing monthly GSTR-5A returns for the month of April 2022 is May 20, 2022.

The CBIC in its earlier communication had said that it could consider extending the tax payment deadline for April in the wake of difficulties being faced by taxpayers. As per the CBIC, the taxpayers were facing issues in the generation of April 2022 GSTR-2B and GSTR-3B forms.

"A technical glitch has been reported by @Infosys_GSTN in the generation of April 22 GSTR-2B and auto-population of GSTR-3B on the portal. Infosys has been directed by Govt for early resolution. A technical team is working to provide GSTR-2B and correct auto-populated GSTR-3B at the earliest," CBIC had tweeted.

GSTR-2B is an auto-drafted input tax credit statement, which provides eligible and ineligible ITC for each month. It's similar to GSTR-2A but remains unchanged for each month. All casual and SEZ taxpayers can generate GSTR-2B. It allows them to reconcile ITC with their account books. The GSTR-2B statement is usually available to taxpayers on the 12th day of the succeeding month. Based on GSTR-2B, taxpayers claim their ITC and file GSTR-3B.

GSTR-3B, a self-declared tax summary form, is filed three times a month by different categories of taxpayers. This GST form comprises details regarding sales, ITC claimed and net payable tax.

GST PMT-06 challan is generated before a taxpayer makes the final payment of the net tax liability. Once a taxpayer enters the credentials, a challan portal identification number is generated, which needs to be mentioned on the GST PMT-06 form.

In its earlier advisory regarding GST-2B on May 15, GSTN had observed that in a few cases, certain records were not reflected in the GSTR-2B statement for April 2022. "However, such records are visible in GSTR-2A of such recipients," it adds. The authority said the technical team is working to resolve this issue for the impacted taxpayers and generate fresh GSTR-2B at the earliest.

Infosys had been awarded the contract worth ₹1,380 crore to build and maintain the GSTN platform. Meanwhile, GST revenue for March hit an all-time high of ₹1,42,095 crore. The collection during the month is up 15% year-on-year from ₹1,23,902 crore in March last year.