The GST laws has clearly put out the rules and regulations that the taxpayer should follow, failing which he would have to pay the penalties. To avoid any sort of confusion the government has categorized the offences and Penalty under GST law to be laid on it.
What are the major offences
In total the government has come out with 21 offences related to the GST and penalty against it. However, the major ones are as follows: –
- No registration under GST
- Issuing the invoices using the GSTIN of another bona fide taxpayer.
- Uploading fake financial documents, files or records with the sole purpose of evading taxes.
- Dubious information while registering under GST
- Fraudulent activity while getting the return
- Not revealing sales for the evasion of tax
- Ineligible taxpayers going for the composition scheme
Penalty under GST law
Penalty under GST law for late filing
In case of late filing, the penalty mentioned as late fee is charged. The amount is set at Rs 100 per day as per the act. The penalty would be 100 under CGST and 100 under SGST making it total of 200/day. The ceiling is set at 5,000 INR and there is no late fee to be paid on IGST in case the filing is delayed. In addition to the late fee, the taxpayer also needs to paid interest at 18% per annum with time period stating from the next day of filing till the date on which payment has been made.
Penalty under GST law for not filing
A taxpayer who paid less than due or did not pay the tax at all will be charged 10% of the tax amount due to the minimum of Rs 10,000. The minimum penalty as per the law has been set at 10% of the tax unpaid.
There are specific categories for which the government has set penalty under GST law with jail term. These are as follows: –
| Tax Amount | 100-200 lakhs | 200-500 lakhs | Above 500 lakh |
| Jail Term | Up to 1 year | Up to 3 years | Up to 5 years |
| Fine | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Search and sequestration under GST
If the joint commissioner of CGST/SGST has come around the possibility that a tax payer might be evading the tax, suppressed the transaction or have claimed inappropriate input tax credit then he can authorize any other officer of the same department to search the places of business of the taxpayer who is under the radar.
Arrest Under GST
In case the officials believe that a taxpayer has some offence which falls under their purview, then the offender can be arrested after being informed about the reason for which he is being arrested. The arrested person should appear within 24 hours before the magistrate in case of cognizable offence.
Appeals by the taxpayer
The government has vested the power to appeal with the taxpayer who has been alleged of committing an offence. The first appeal should go to the Appellate Authority and in case the individual is not satisfied, he can knock the doors of National Appellate Tribunal, then to High court and finally Supreme Court as the need arises.
