GST Council Meeting: Know the Proposed Changes in GSTR-3B Form

A proposal for improvements to the monthly tax payment form, GSTR-3B, which would incorporate auto-population of outward supplies from sales returns and a non-editable tax payment table, is expected to be discussed by the GST Council at its meeting next week.

Curbing Bogus Billing

The change would lessen the problem of phony invoicing, in which sellers report suppressed sales on GSTR-3B to reduce GST payment while reporting greater sales on GSTR-1 to allow buyers to claim an input tax credit (ITC).

Auto-Population of Data

Input tax credit (ITC) statements based on incoming and outgoing B2B supplies are currently auto-drafted and included in GSTR-3B of a taxpayer. GSTR-3B also indicates any discrepancies between GSTR-1 and 3B.

According to the modifications suggested by the Law Committee of the GST Council, values from GTSR-1 into GSTR-3B will automatically populate in certain rows to establish a large degree of one-to-one correspondence between rows of the two return forms, providing clarity to the taxpayer and tax officers.

According to a representative, the modification will simplify the GSTR-3B filing procedure and reduce the amount of user input required.

According to the revised form suggested by the Law Committee of the Council, the tax payment table in Form GSTR-3B will be auto-populated from other tables in the form and will not be editable.

A separate amendment table (for liabilities) may be introduced in GSTR-3B to provide more clarity to the taxpayers. This will ensure that any changes made to Form GSTR-1 are accurately reflected in GSTR-3B. The Committee noted that, to the extent possible, changes to Form GSTR-3B should follow changes to Form GSTR-1 with regard to outward liabilities.

The Committee recommended adding an amendment table to GSTR-3B to show any changes made to the ITC part.

Presently, taxpayers must submit GSTR-1 declarations of outbound supplies by the eleventh day of the next month, and GSTR-3B tax payments must be made between the twentieth and twenty-fourth day of each month, depending on the category of taxpayer.

Specific Changes for E-commerce companies

E-commerce companies like Uber, Swiggy, Zomato, and MMT would witness some modifications in their monthly tax filings, ensuring more data points for the government’s big data analytics engine.

Final version to be approved by GST Council at a subsequent meeting

The revised form will be made available to the public for stakeholder feedback when the GST Council gives its preliminary approval to the revisions proposed by the Law Committee. The final version will then be approved by the GST Council at a subsequent meeting.