Finance Ministry notifies GSTR-1 A form for amending sales return

The finance ministry has notified the GSTR-1A form which will give an option to taxpayers to amend the outward supply or sales return form.

Last month, the GST Council recommended providing a new optional facility through form GSTR-1A to facilitate the taxpayers to amend the details in form GSTR-1 for a tax period and to declare additional details.

GSTR-1A will, however, have to be filed before filing of return in GSTR-3B for the said tax period.

The finance ministry on July 10 notified the GSTR-1A form.

Moore Singhi Executive Director Rajat Mohan said the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has introduced a significant enhancement to the GST compliance framework with the optional facility of form GSTR-1A.

"By facilitating timely corrections, form GSTR-1A ensures that the correct tax liability is auto-populated in form GSTR-3B, reducing manual errors and fostering a streamlined compliance process," he said.

This amendment not only minimizes the risk of penalties and interest due to incorrect filings but also significantly reduces the compliance burden, underscoring the CBIC's commitment to a more responsive and taxpayer-friendly GST regime, Mohan added.

KPMG Indirect Tax Head & Partner, Abhishek Jain said enabling provisions for allowing rectification of GSTR-1 is a welcome move and should help contain unwarranted disputes on routine reconciliation between GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B (specifically inadvertent errors) for businesses.

"Also, the modus prescribed should not significantly impact the input tax credit reconciliation process for businesses," Jain said.

This will facilitate the taxpayer to add any particulars of supply of the current tax period missed out in reporting in form GSTR-1 of the said tax period or to amend any particulars already declared in GSTR-1 of the current tax period (including those declared in Invoice Furnishing Facility (IFF), for the first and second months of a quarter, if any, for quarterly taxpayers), to ensure that correct liability is auto-populated in GSTR-3B.

Currently, GST taxpayers file outward supply return GSTR-1 by the 11th day of the subsequent month, and GSTR-3B is filed in a staggered manner between the 20th and 24th day of the succeeding month.

Taxpayers with an annual turnover of up to ₹5 crore can file GSTR-1 quarterly within the 13th day of the end of the quarter, while GSTR-3B is filed between the 22nd and 24th day of the succeeding month.