ADMS & Co. Taxation No late fee for uploading GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C till February 12, 2020 for Rajasthan state(Tax Bar Association v. Union of India -Rajasthan HC dated 5th Feb)

No late fee for uploading GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C till February 12, 2020 for Rajasthan state(Tax Bar Association v. Union of India -Rajasthan HC dated 5th Feb)

February 11, 2020 ADMS 0 Comments
Financial Statement Audit

Facts of the case-Tax Bar Association (“the Petitioner”) filed a petition raising the issue of non-functionality of the Department’s (“the Respondents”) portal i.e. www.gst.gov.in, as a consequence of which, various assessees are unable to upload their annual returns in GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C.

Due to non-functionality of the portal, the Respondents issued a Notification No. 06/2020-Central Tax dated February 3, 2020 requiring the assessees to furnish their returns under Section 44 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“CGST Act”) read with Rule 80 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (“CGST Rules”) for the Financial Year 2017-18 by February 5, 2020 in the State of Rajasthan.

When the assessees attempted to upload the returns/forms in GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C on January 31, 2020 at 5:09 PM, the portal showed the following:

“Dear Tax Payer,1,50,000 tax payers are already submitting their returns at this moment…Please wait for your turn in a few minutes…Thank you for your patience.”Several attempts were made thereafter by the assessees but they were not able to file the annual return. It may be borne in mind that the last date fixed for filing of returns originally was January 31, 2020. The Hon’ble HC, Rajasthan on February 5, 2020, passed an Order in the morning calling upon the Respondents to take instructions on the issue of the serious uploading problems being faced by the assessees and directed to seek instructions from the appropriate authorities about the technical difficulties being faced by the assessees in uploading their returns/forms and further, to consider the request of the assessees for extending the time for uploading the returns.

Held:The Hon’ble HC, Rajasthan in Civil Petition No. 1805 of 2020 dated February 5, 2020 held as under:

  • The Court observed that the highest number of returns were uploaded on January 31, 2020 i.e. 2,19,417 in GSTR-9 and 1,33,027 in GSTR-9C. Further, on February 1, 2 and 3, 2020, a total 10,914, 36,643 and 1,06,568 GSTR-9 returns were uploaded and for returns of GSTR-9C forms, a total of 9,213, 24,096 and 67,773 returns respectively were uploaded on the aforesaid dates.
  • Granted Respondents time till February 12, 2020 to file a detailed reply/affidavit as the Respondents were yet to obtain any instruction to effectively resolve the matter.
  • Directed the Petitioners to keep uploading their returns at the earliest possible and no late fee shall be charged till February 12, 2020 for uploading.
  • Directed the Respondents to enable compliance of such uploading by making necessary/consequential corrections on its official portal and asked Union of India to direct the service provider to enhance its capacity to accept returns/forms.