Section 36 of CGST Act,2017 – Period of retention of accounts

Section 36 of CGST Act,2017 from bare act : –
Every registered person required to keep and maintain books of account or otherrecords in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 35 shall retain themuntil the expiry of seventy-two months from the due date of furnishing of annual return forthe year pertaining to such accounts and records:
Provided that a registered person, who is a party to an appeal or revision or any otherproceedings before any Appellate Authority or Revisional Authority or Appellate Tribunalor court, whether filed by him or by the Commissioner, or is under investigation for anoffence under Chapter XIX, shall retain the books of account and other records pertaining tothe subject matter of such appeal or revision or proceedings or investigation for a period ofone year after final disposal of such appeal or revision or proceedings or investigation, or forthe period specified above, whichever is later.

#In normal circumstances, Accounts & Records under the GST regime in India needs to be maintained for minimum 6 years from the date of annual return.
Example – for Year 2017 -18 accounts & records will have to be maintained upto 31.12.2024
# If your accounts or records are subject matter of any ongoing appeal, revision, investigation or any assessment proceedings then one needs to maintain it for either

• 6 years or
• One year after the disposal of such appeal,revision, investigation or any assessment proceedings,

whichever is later.

CHAPTER VIII

ACCOUNTS AND RECORDS

Chapter VIII of the CGST Act,2017 covers two sections relating to ACCOUNTS & RECORDSunder GST. Both thesections from the CGST Act,2017 are available for your ready reference.
Section 35 :Accounts and other records
Section 36 :Period of retention of accounts

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