Without the working-class paying taxes, there won’t be a government to run cities and countries. People and businesses need to pay their taxes yearly because they might face heavy penalties that the government has imposed.
Even with the penalties imposed, some can pay way more than a month after their first tax filing because of many reasons. Some would be so busy that they forget about filing taxes. Nowadays, many technological advancements assist people with their day to day lives, and the GST return filing software is one of them.
It has significantly helped people and businesses make sure that their GST return filing is done quickly and correctly. There is no need to hire accountants because a single software can get the job done at a moment’s notice.
What is a GST Return?
Suppose you don’t know much about GST (Goods and Services Tax) returns. In that case, it’s a document containing several details of income that a taxpayer will need to file with the tax administrative authorities.
It is mostly used by tax authorities to calculate the total amount of tax owed by an individual or other entity, such as businesses. Also, a registered dealer needs to file GST returns that comprise of:
- Purchases
- Output GST (On sales)
- Input tax credit (GST paid on purchases)
- Sales
Filing a GST return is a lengthy process because many things a business needs to file in one document. The purchases, sales, output GST, and input tax credit needs to be completely exact.
There should never be duplicates of the same thing or missing numbers. But if a business uses the GST return filing software, they will never experience this kind of problem.
Who Gets to File GST Returns?
Under the GST regime, any regular and registered business has to file two monthly returns and one annual return. Overall, it amounts to 26 returns in a single year. Also, the number of GST filings varies quarterly for GSTR-1 filers.
They file 17 GST filings online within a year. Also, separate returns need to be filed like composition dealers, which are special cases. The number of GST filings they do in a year is 5.
Penalties for Not Filing GST Returns
If you ever want to avoid any incurred penalties with late or missed GST return filings, you need to have GST return filing software. Even if you are using the software, it would be best to know the penalties to ensure that you will be fully aware of what will happen.
Some businesses have already experienced getting penalized for their actions. There are 21 offenses under GST, but here are some of the major offenses you should know about:
- Supplying any goods or services without issuing an invoice or issuing a false invoice
- Failing to register under GST, even though the law requires a business to do so
- Submitting fake details while registering under GST
- Issuing invoices by a taxable person using the GSTIN of another Bonafede taxpayer
- Submitting false financial documents, records, files, or fake returns to avoid paying taxes
- Obtaining funds through fraudulent processes
- Choosing a composition scheme even if the taxpayer is ineligible
- Intentionally suppressing sales to evade tax.
Now that you know the major offenses, the following penalties will be imposed on businesses that commit the following offenses:
- Late Filing – there will be a penalty called a late fee whenever a business fails to pay it. The calculation for the late fee is Rs. 100 per day per Act, so it’s 100 under CGST & 100 under SGST, and the total will be Rs. 200/day.
There’s also an interest you have to pay at 18% per annum, along with the late fee. The taxpayer needs to calculate the tax to be paid. The given period will be from the next day of filing to the date of payment.
- Unable to File – if you fail to file any GST return, you can no longer file subsequent returns. An example would be if the GSTR-2 return of June is not filed, the next return GSTR-3 and following July returns cannot be filed. The outcome of this is that the late filing of GST return will have a surging effect leading to large penalties and fines.
The penalties incurred by businesses that fail to file GST returns will have a hard time recovering from their monetary loss. Avoid all kinds of GST return issues by incorporating the GST return filing software within your business right away!
