Time Limit for the issuance of orders for recovery of tax
Notification No. 09/2023, issued on March 31st, 2023 by the Central Government regarding the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, has extended the time limit for the issuance of orders for the recovery of tax not paid or short-paid or of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilized under sub-section (9) of section 73.
This extension has been provided under section 168A of the CGST Act, 2017, along with section 20 of the Integrated GST Act, 2017 and section 21 of the Union Territory GST Act, 2017, based on the recommendations of the Council. The previous notifications issued by the Ministry of Finance on April 3rd, 2020, May 1st, 2021, and July 5th, 2022 have been partially modified by this notification.
The time limit for the issuance of recovery orders has been extended as follows: until December 31st, 2023, for the financial year 2017-18, until March 31st, 2024, for the financial year 2018-19, and until June 30th, 2024, for the financial year 2019-20.
Special Procedure for registered persons who have failed to furnish a valid return
Notification No. 06/2023 – Central Tax, issued on 31st March 2023, outlines a special procedure for registered persons who have failed to furnish a valid return within 30 days from the service of the assessment order issued on or before 28th February 2023 under sub-section (1) of section 62 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act).
- The notification states that these registered persons will be deemed to have withdrawn the assessment order if they follow the specified special procedures.
- To avoid consequences of non-filing of the return, these registered persons must furnish the said return and pay the interest due under sub-section (1) of section 50 of the CGST Act and the late fee payable under section 47 of the CGST Act by 30th June 2023, regardless of whether or not an appeal had been filed against the assessment order under section 107 of the CGST Act or whether or not the appeal, if any, filed against the assessment order has been decided.
In summary, this notification provides relief to registered persons who have failed to furnish a valid return within the specified timeframe by offering a special procedure to withdraw the assessment order and avoid consequences by furnishing the said return by the specified deadline and paying the required interest and late fee.
Special Procedure for Revocation of cancellation of GST Registration
The Central Government of India issued Notification No. 03/2023 on March 31st, 2023, under section 148 of the CGST Act, 2017. This notification provides a special procedure for registered persons whose registration has been cancelled under clause (b) or (c) of sub-section (2) of section 29 of the said Act on or before December 31st, 2022, and who have failed to apply for revocation of such cancellation within the specified time period in section 30 of the said Act.
- Under this procedure, such registered persons may apply for revocation of cancellation of registration until June 30th, 2023.
- However, they must first file the returns due up to the effective date of cancellation of registration and pay any amount due as tax, along with any interest, penalty, and late fee payable in respect of such returns.
- It should be noted that no further extension of the time period for filing the application for revocation of cancellation of registration shall be available in such cases.
The notification further explains that the category of persons who have failed to apply for revocation of cancellation of registration within the time period specified in section 30 of the said Act also includes those whose appeal against the order of cancellation of registration or rejection of the application for revocation of cancellation of registration under section 107 of the said Act has been dismissed due to non-adherence to the time limits specified under sub-section (1) of section 30 of the said Act.
