Section 128 of GST Act: Power to waive penalty or fee or both

Amended and updated notes on section 128 of CGST Act, 2017. Detail discussion on provisions and rules related to power to impose penalty in certain cases.

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Amended and updated notes on section 128 of CGST Act, 2017. Detail discussion on provisions and rules related to power to waive penalty or fee or both.

Chapter XIX (Sections 122138) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 deals with the provisions related to offences and penalties. Section 128 of CGST 2017 provides for power to waive penalty or fee or both.

Recently, we have discussed in detail section 127 (Power to impose penalty in certain cases) of CGST Act 2017. Today, we learn the provisions of section 128 of Central GST Act 2017.

Section 128 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 has been notified by the Ministry of Finance vide Notification No. 9/2017-Central Tax, G.S.R. 658(E), dated 28.06.2017. This notification was come into force from 1st July, 2017 i.e. the commencement date of section 128 is 1-7-2017.

Name of ActThe Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017
Enacted byParliament of India
Administered byCentral Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
Governing bodyGST Council
Number of Chapters21
Number of Sections174
You are reading:
Chapter No.XIX
Chapter NameOffences and Penalties
Section No.128
Section NamePower to waive penalty or fee or both
Updated 2024 EditionGST Law Book PDF

Notes on Section 128 of CGST Act 2017

CG waive GST Penalty or GST Late Fee:

The Central Government (CG) has power to waive partly or fully:

  1. GST penalty under section:
    • 122 i.e. Penalty for certain offences; or
    • 123 i.e. Penalty for failure to furnish information return; or
    • 125 i.e. General penalty; or
  2. GST Late fee referred to in section 47 i.e. Levy of late fee.

GST penalty and GST late fee shall be waived off by CBIC on the recommendations of the GST Council. Such waiver may be for specified class of taxpayers and under specified mitigating circumstances.

To waive GST penalty and GST late fee, the CG shall issue a notification by exercising the powers conferred by section 128 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

The Central Government vide Notification No. 76/2018-Central Tax, G.S.R. 1253(E) dated 31-12-2018 as amended by 52/2020-Central Tax, dated 24-06-2020, waived the amount of late fee payable by any registered person for failure to furnish the return in FORM GSTR-3B for the month of July, 2017 onwards by the due date under Section 47 of the said Act, which is in excess of an amount of twenty five rupees for every day during which such failure continues.

The amount of late fee payable under section 47 shall stand waived if you fail to furnish the returns in FORM GSTR-3B by the due date but furnishes the said return according to the condition mentioned below:

  1. Taxpayers having an aggregate turnover of up to rupees 5 crores in the preceding financial year, whose principal place of business is in the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana or Andhra Pradesh or the Union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep:
    • May, 2020: If return in FORM GSTR-3B is furnished on or before the 12th day of September, 2020.
    • June, 2020: If return in FORM GSTR-3B is furnished on or before the 23rd day of September, 2020
    • July, 2020: If return in FORM GSTR-3B is furnished on or before the 27th day of September, 2020.
  2. Taxpayers having an aggregate turnover of up to rupees 5 crores in the preceding financial year, whose principal place of business is in the States of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand or Odisha or the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh and Delhi:
    • May, 2020: If return in FORM GSTR-3B is furnished on or before the 15th day of September, 2020.
    • June, 2020: If return in FORM GSTR-3B is furnished on or before the 25th day of September, 2020.
    • July, 2020: If return in FORM GSTR-3B is furnished on or before the 29th day of September, 2020.

For the taxpayers having an aggregate turnover of more than rupees 5 crores in the preceding financial year, who fail to furnish the return in FORM GSTR-3B for the months of May, 2020 to July, 2020, by the due date but furnish the said return till the 30th day of September, 2020, the total amount of late fee under section 47 of the said Act, shall stand waived which is in excess of two hundred and fifty rupees and shall stand fully waived for those taxpayers where the total amount of central tax payable in the said return is nil.

The total amount of late fee payable for a tax period, under section 47 of the said Act shall stand waived which is in excess of an amount of two hundred and fifty rupees for the registered person who failed to furnish the return in FORM GSTR-3B for the months of July, 2017 to January, 2020, by the due date but furnishes the said return between the period from 01st day of July, 2020 to 30th day of September, 2020:

Where the total amount of central tax payable in the said return is nil, the total amount of late fee payable for a tax period, under section 47 of the said Act shall stand waived for the registered person who failed to furnish the return in FORM GSTR-3B for the months of July, 2017 to January, 2020, by the due date but furnishes the said return between the period from 01st day of July, 2020 to 30th day of September, 2020.

Section 128 of Central GST – Power to waive penalty or fee or both1

Section 128 of CGST Act 2017 shall come into force on 01.07.2017 vide Notification No. 9/2017-Central Tax, G.S.R. 658(E), dated 28.06.2017.

The Government may, by notification, waive in part or full, any penalty referred to in section 122 or section 123 or section 125 or any late fee referred to in section 47 for such class of taxpayers and under such mitigating circumstances as may be specified therein on the recommendations of the Council.

  1. Section 128 of CGST Act 2017 shall come into force on 01.07.2017 vide Notification No. 9/2017-Central Tax, G.S.R. 658(E), dated 28.06.2017. ↩︎


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