The Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN) has issued the advisory on for Waiver Scheme under Section 128A of GST Act.
Under the waiver scheme, for a demand notice or statement or order which has been issued under Section 73 for the tax periods between July 2017 & March 2020, the taxpayers are required to file an application either in FORM GST SPL-01 or SPL02 in GST portal accordingly. Presently, Form GST SPL 02 is made available in the GST portal. Form GST SPL 01 will be available soon in the GST portal.
What is Waiver Scheme under Section 128A of GST Act?
For reducing the tax disputes and to provide a big relief to the taxpayers, GST Council in its 53rd meeting held on 22nd June, 2024 had recommended for waiver of interest and penalties in the demand notices or orders issued under Section 73 of the CGST Act, 2017 (i.e. the cases not involving fraud, suppression or wilful misstatement, etc.) for the Financial years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. To avail this waiver, the condition is that the full tax demanded is paid on or before 31.03.2025.
In view of the above, Rule 164 of CGST rules, 2017 was notified through Notification No. 20/2024 dated. 8th October 2024, effective from 1st November 2024. This rule provides procedural guidelines for the said waiver scheme. As per the waiver scheme, if a notice or order is issued under Section 73 for the financial years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, the taxpayers are required to file an application in FORM GST SPL-01 or FORM GST SPL-02, respectively on the common portal within three months from notified date, which is 31.03.2025.
What is Form GST SPL 02?
In this regard it is to inform that Form GST SPL-01 and Form GST SPL-02 are under development and the same will be made available on the common portal tentatively from the first week of January 2025. In the meantime, taxpayers are advised to pay the tax amount demanded in the notice, statement, or order issued under Section 73 on or before March 31st, 2025, to ensure that they receive the waiver benefits by paying their taxes before the deadline.
Taxpayer can pay the demanded tax amount through the “payment towards demand” facility in case of demand orders and through Form GST DRC-03 in case of notices. However, if payment has already been done through Form GST DRC-03 for any demand order then taxpayer need to link the said Form GST DRC 03 with such demand order through Form GST DRC-03A, which is now available on the common portal.
Process of filing SPL-02 electronically
Login into GST portal: Navigate to > Services > User Services > My Applications.
On Navigating to ‘My Applications’ page, the taxpayer has to select ‘Apply for Waiver Scheme under Section 128A’ option under ‘Application type’ dropdown. If the taxpayer wants to file a new application for availing waiver on Interest and Penalty, the taxpayer can click on ‘New Application’ button.
On click of ‘New Application’, the taxpayer will be able to see two forms, i.e.
- SPL-01: Application for waiver of interest or penalty or both under Section 128(1)(a) in case of notice or statement (This form will be made available soon).
- SPL-02 : Application for waiver of interest or penalty or both under Section 128(1)(b) & Section 128(1)(c) in case of demand order.
On selection of SPL-02, the ‘CREATE APPLICATION’ button will be enabled.
On click of “CREATE APPLICATION” button , a questionnaire will appear on the dashboard as shown below.
Whether demand order is issued through GST portal?
If DRC 01/07/APL 04 is issued through GST portal, ‘Yes’ has to be selected.
In case the demand order is not issued through GST portal i.e. issued manually by the tax department and DRC 01/07/APL 04 is not available in GST portal, the taxpayer will be required to select ‘No’.
