GST Council Meeting: Top 5 decisions FM Nirmala Sitharaman announced today that brought relief for small traders

In the 40th GST Council Meeting held today through video conferencing, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman led Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council took five decisions that have brought huge relief to small traders. These five decisions will make it easier for the small traders to file their GST return and not pay hefty penalties.

Here are the top 5 decision taken in the GST Council Meeting:

1] Late Fee Exemption: Those small traders who don't have any tax liability will be exempted from late fee for not filing their GST return from August 2017 to January 2020.

See Zee Business Live TV streaming below:

2] Reduction in late fee charge: Those small traders who have an annual turnover up to Rs 5 crore, their late fee charges have been reduced from 18 per cent to 9 per cent for the late GST return for February, March and April 2020. But, this benefit will be made available to only those small traders who files their GST return by September 2020. If they do it by 6th July 2020, there will be no late fee charges levied on them.

3] Cap on late return filing: Those small traders who have tax liability and they are yet to file their GST return, their minimum late fee has been capped at Rs 500 per return. This relief will be available for GST return up to January 2020. Same provision will be applicable on the GST return filed from 1st July 2020 to 30th July 2020.

4] Interest exemption: FM Sitharaman said that those small traders who have an annual turnover of up to Rs 5 crore, will be given exemption in late fee charges and its interest if they file their GSTR 3B for May, June and July 2020 by September 2020. In that case, they will be exempted from the interest levied on the late fee.

5] GST Registration: Those small traders whose GST registration has been cancelled, they will be able to re-apply for the same till 30th September 2020.