GSTN Advisory for Waiver Scheme under Section 128A:

GSTN Advisory for Waiver Scheme under Section 128A The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) has issued advisory for waiver scheme under Section 128A. Taxpayer’s attention is invited to the advisory on the issued by GSTN on 08.11.2024. The advisory read as follows: To reduce tax disputes and provide significant relief to taxpayers, the GST Council recommended waiver of interest and penalties in demand notices or orders issued under Section 73 of the CGST Act, 2017 (i.e. cases not involving fraud, suppression, or wilful misstatement, among other things) for the fiscal years 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20 at its 53rd meeting on June 22, 2024. To qualify for this waiver, the full amount of tax sought must be paid on or before March 31, 2025. In view of the above, Rule 164 of CGST rules, 2017 was notified through Notification No. 20/2024 dated. 8th October 2024, effective from 1st November 2024. This rule provides procedural guidelines for the said waiver scheme. As per the waiver scheme, if a notice or order is issued under Section 73 for the financial years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, the taxpayers are required to file an application in FORM GST SPL-01 or FORM GST SPL-02, respectively on the common portal within three months from notified date, which is 31.03.2025. In this regard, it is to inform you that Form GST SPL-01 and Form GST SPL-02 are now in development and will be published on the common portal in the first week of January 2025. In the meanwhile, taxpayers should pay the tax amount asked in the notice, statement, or order issued under Section 73 before March 31st, 2025, to guarantee that they receive the waiver benefits by paying their taxes on time. The taxpayer can pay the desired tax amount via the "payment towards demand" mechanism for demand orders and Form GST DRC-03 for notices. However, if payment has already been made through Form GST DRC-03 for any demand order, the taxpayer must link the Form GST DRC-03 with the demand order using Form GST DRC-03A, which is now available on the common platform. Under the waiver scheme, for a demand notice or statement or order which has been issued under Section 73 for the tax periods between July 2017 and March 2020, the taxpayers are required to file an application either in FORM GST SPL-01 or SPL02 in GST portal accordingly. Presently, Form GST SPL 02 is made available in the GST portal. Form GST SPL 01 will be available soon in the GST portal. Difficulty if any faced by the taxpayers may be reported to GST Self service portal by raising a ticket under category “Issues related to Waiver Scheme”. To Know Process of Filing SPL-02 - Click Here