[Circular No. 129/48/2019 – GST dated 24 December 2019]
Subject: Standard Operating Procedure to be followed in
case of non-filers of returns
Doubts have
been raised across the field formations in respect of the appropriate
procedure to be followed in case of non-furnishing
of
return under section 39 or section 44 or section 45
of the Central Goods and
Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the
“CGST Act”). It has further been brought to the notice that divergent practices are being
followed in case of non-furnishing of the
said returns.
2.
The matter has been examined. In order to clarify the issue and to ensure uniformity in the implementation
of the provisions of the law across field formations, the Board,
in exercise of its powers conferred by
section 168 (1) of the CGST Act, hereby issues the
following clarifications and guidelines.
3.
Section 46 of the CGST Act read with rule 68 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules,
2017 (hereinafter referred to as the “CGST Rules”) requires issuance of
a notice in FORM GSTR-3A
to a registered person who
fails to furnish return under section 39 or section 44 or section 45
(hereinafter referred to as the “defaulter”) requiring
him to furnish such return within fifteen days. Further section 62 provides
for assessment of non-filers of
return of registered persons who
fails
to furnish return under section
39 or section 45 even after service of notice under
section 46. FORM GSTR-3A
provides as under:
“Notice to return defaulter u/s 46 for not filing return
Tax Period -
Type of Return -
Being a registered taxpayer, you are
required to furnish return for the supplies made or received and to discharge
resultant tax liability
for the aforesaid tax period by due date. It has been
noticed
that you have not
filed the said return till date.
1. You are, therefore, requested to furnish the said return within 15 days failing which the
tax liability may be assessed u/s 62 of the Act, based on the relevant material available with this office. Please note that in addition to tax so assessed, you will also be liable to pay interest and penalty as
per provisions of the Act.
2. Please note
that no further communication
will
be issued for assessing the liability.
3. The notice shall be deemed to have been withdrawn in case the return referred above, is filed
by you before issue of the assessment order.”
As such, no separate notice is required to be issued for best judgment assessment under section 62 and in case of failure to file return within 15 days of issuance of FORM GSTR-3A, the best judgment assessment in FORM ASMT-13 can be issued without any further
communication.
4.
Following
guidelines are hereby
prescribed
to ensure uniformity
in the implementation of the provisions of law
across the field formations:
(i) Preferably, a system generated message would be sent to all the registered persons 3 days before the due date to nudge them about filing
of the return for the tax period by the due
date.
(ii) Once
the due date for furnishing the return under section 39 is over, a system
generated mail / message would be sent to all the defaulters immediately after the due date to the effect that the said registered person has not furnished his return for the said tax period; the said mail/message is to be sent to the authorized signatory as well as
the proprietor/partner/director/karta, etc.
(iii)
Five days after the due date of furnishing the return, a notice in FORM GSTR-3A
(under section 46 of the CGST Act read with rule 68 of the CGST Rules) shall be
issued
electronically to such registered person
who fails to furnish return
under section 39, requiring him to
furnish such return within fifteen days;
(iv) In case the said return is still not filed by the defaulter within 15 days of the said notice, the proper officer may proceed to assess the tax liability of the said person
under section 62 of the CGST Act, to the best of his judgement taking into account all
the relevant material which is available or which he has gathered and would issue order under rule 100 of the CGST Rules in FORM GST ASMT-13. The
proper officer would then be required to upload the summary thereof in FORM GST DRC-07;
(v) For the purpose of assessment of tax liability
under section 62 of the CGST Act, the proper officer may take into account the details of outward supplies available in the
statement furnished under
section 37 (FORM GSTR-1), details of supplies auto-
populated in FORM GSTR-2A,
information available from e-way bills, or any
other
information available from any other source, including from inspection under section 71;
(vi) In case the defaulter furnishes a valid return within thirty days of the service of
assessment order in FORM GST ASMT-13, the said assessment order shall be deemed
to have been withdrawn in terms of provision of
sub-section (2) of section 62 of the CGST Act. However, if the said return remains unfurnished
within the statutory period of 30 days from issuance of order in FORM ASMT-13, then
proper officer may
initiate proceedings under section 78 and recovery
under section 79 of the CGST Act;
5.
Above general guidelines may be followed by the proper officer in case of non-
furnishing of return. In
deserving cases,
based on the
facts of the case,
the Commissioner may resort to provisional attachment to protect revenue under section 83 of
the CGST Act before issuance of FORM GST ASMT-13.
6.
Further, the proper officer would initiate action under sub-section (2) of section 29 of the
CGST Act for cancellation of registration in
cases
where the return has not been
furnished for the period specified in
section 29.
7.
It is requested that suitable trade notices may be issued to publicize the contents of this
Circular.
8.
Difficulty, if any, in implementation of the above instructions may please be brought to the notice of the Board.
CBEC-20/06/04/2019-GST