Over 5.5 million GST returns filed in January, says GSTN chairman

As many as 5.5 million GST returns have been filed for the month of January so far, GSTN Chairman Ajay Bhushan Pandey said today.

The last date for filing initial GSTR-3B returns for a month is the 20th of the subsequent month. Hence, the sales returns for January has to be filed by February 20. However, businesses can continue to file returns after payment of late fee.

"The total number of 3B GST returns filed in the month of January till date is 5.5 million," Pandey told reporters here.

The number is expected to go up when the government releases the GST collection figure later in the month as more businesses continue to file returns.

According to the official data available, in December 5.63 million GSTR-3B were filed which fetched Rs 867 billion revenue to the exchequer, while in November 5.63 million returns were filed with total revenue of Rs 8 billion.

In October 5.01 million 3B returns were filed with revenue of Rs 833 billion, while in September it was 4.2 million with tax collection of Rs 921 billion.

The GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state counterparts, had in November decided to slash late filing fee in order to help businesses cope with the system and file returns even at a later date.

Businesses with 'nil' tax liability now have to pay only Rs 20 as late fee for the delayed filing of return while for the rest, the fee is Rs 50.