CBIC Considers Relief After GST Portal's Brief Outage

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) declared that it will consider an extension for filing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) after its online portal experienced a temporary shutdown on Friday, January 10, 2025. 

In a social media post on X (formerly Twitter), Infosys_GSTN wrote, "GST portal is currently experiencing issues and is under maintenance", slightly curbing the woes of 104 million taxpayers of the country.

It also added that the portal can be expected to function by 12 o'clock in the noon and the CBIC is being sent an incident report to consider an extension in the filing date. But the website is still down and the estimated time for refunctioning is now 3 PM.

Several chartered accountants took this matter to social media about the concerns of not being able to file a GSTR-1 return, the deadline of which is January 11, 2025, for the tax period of December 2024. The deadline for QRMP (Quarterly Returns with Monthly Returns) filers for the December 2024 tax period is January 13, 2025. 

What is the GSTR-1 Form?

Form GSTR-1 is a statement of outward supplies every normal and casual registered firm has to furnish monthly or quarterly. Outward supplies under the GST constitute details of those goods and services a registered taxpayer supplies and is of most importance in building transparency and observing proper tax compliance.

Who needs to file a GSTR-1 return?

As the GST website states, "Form GSTR-1 is a monthly/quarterly Statement of Outward Supplies to be furnished by all formal and casual registered taxpayers making outward supplies of goods and services or both and contains details of outward supplies of goods and services".

Eligibility for Quarterly GSTR-1 Filing?

Those taxpayers with a total turnover of Rs 5 Crore in the current year as well as the immediately preceding financial year can also file their GSTR-1 in quarterly cycles. The taxpayers can also be relieved of their last GSTR-3B return.

Presently, with an increase in the number of entities dependent on time-sensitive portal access, a formal extension would be a welcome relief for stakeholders. Stakeholders are advised to keep an eye on CBIC's notifications for any changes in deadlines.