Dear all,
First of all, to my reply dated 04.02.2020, I said that I agree with the views of experts, but when we are having any case law on hand one should give a chance.
Now, as the appellant i.e. M/s. AAP & Co. = 2019 (7) TMI 401 - GUJARAT HIGH COURT filed a writ against the press release, then a person who is really affected should go for it. As in the case, the Rule 61(5), as pointed out by our expert, was also part of the writ. Para 12 of the writ application it was submitted that GSTR-3B was in lieu of GSTR-3, but later on it was omitted and hence GSTR-3B is not in lieu of GSTR-3.
At Para 15 of the writ it was submitted that the decision to add return in form GSTR-3B was taken in the 18th GST Council held on 30th June 2017 on account of the reason stated as 'shorter return for first two months of roll out'. It has not been introduced as a return in substitute of return to be filed in form GSTR-3. Therefore, it is quite obvious that return in form GSTR-3B is only a temporary stop gap arrangement till due date of filing return in form GSTR-3 is notified in the GSTN portal. It is therefore, submitted that it is quite obvious that the return to be filed in form GSTR-3 is the final return for taking additional input tax credit as well as discharging of additional tax liabilities after filing of return in form GSTR-3B. It is, therefore, submitted that the last date for availing the input tax credit relating to the invoices issued during the period from July 2017 to March 2018 is the last date for filing of the return in form GSTR-3 and not GSTR-3B.
At Para 26, the issue faced by the taxpayer was raised. The Para 30 of the said decision of High is vital and is reproduced below:-
“30. It would be apposite to state that initially it was decided to have three returns in a month, i.e. return for outward supplies i.e. GSTR-1 in terms of Section 37, return for inward supplies in terms of Section 38, i.e. GSTR-2 and a combined return in Form GSTR-3. However, considering technical glitches in the GSTN portal as well as difficulty faced by the tax payers it was decided to keep filing of GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 in abeyance. Therefore, in order to ease the burden of the taxpayer for some time, it was decided in the 18th GST Council meeting to allow filing of a shorter return in Form GSTR-3B for initial period. It was not introduced as a return in lieu of return required to be filed in Form GSTR-3. The return in Form GSTR-3B is only a temporary stop gap arrangement till due date of filing the return in Form GSTR-3 is notified. Notifications are being issued from time to time extending the due date of filing of the return in Form GST-3, i.e. return required to be filed under Section 39 of the CGST Act/GGST Act. It was notified vide Notification No.44/2018 Central Tax dated 10th September 2018 that the due date of filing the return under Section 39 of the Act, for the months of July 2017 to March 2019 shall be subsequently notified in the Official Gazette.”
Of course, the interpretation given by the Hon’ble High Court do matters a lot. Therefore, I am of the view that to file writ for the problem faced is your right and it is court to decide.
Thanks