Relief for small businesses: Now, only four GSTR-3B returns a year instead of 12

Goods and Services Tax (GST) taxpayers having annual aggregate turnover up to Rs5 crore will require filing only four tax returns (GSTR-3B) in a year instead of 12 monthly returns that would provide major relief to about 9.4 million small businesses, two officials said.

The ‘Quarterly filing of Return with Monthly Payment’ or QRMP scheme would impact about 92% of the total tax base under the GST regime, officials working in the Union finance ministry said requesting anonymity.

“With quarterly scheme put to practice in GST, the small taxpayer from January onward would need to file only eight returns (4 GSTR-3B and 4 GSTR-1 returns) instead of 16 returns at present in a financial year,” one of the officials working in the Department of Revenue (DoR) said. DoR is an arm of the finance ministry.

Also, the taxpayers’ professional expenses on return filing would get reduced significantly for they would be required to file just half the number of returns in place of 16 at present, he said. “The scheme would be available on the GST common portal with a facility to opt in and opt out and again opt in, if one wishes so,” he added.

“On an average, one small taxpayer can annually save Rs60,000 to Rs80,000 fee he paid to professionals for filing these forms,” a second official said.

This will bring in the concept of providing input tax credit only on the reported invoices, thereby putting a significant curb on the menace of fake invoice frauds, the first official said. The government has launched a nationwide drive against fake invoice frauds from November and has so far arrested 114 unscrupulous persons besides booking 1,230 cases against 3,778 fake GSTIN entities.

The QRMP scheme has optional feature of Invoice Filing Facility to mitigate business related hardships for the small and medium taxpayers, the officials said.