Amended and updated notes on section 168A of CGST Act, 2017. Detail discussion on provisions and rules related to power of Government to extend time limit in special circumstances.
Chapter XXI (Sections 143–174) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 deals with the provisions related to miscellaneous. Section 168A of CGST 2017 provides for power of Government to extend time limit in special circumstances.
Recently, we have discussed in detail section 168 (Power to issue instructions or directions) of CGST Act 2017. Today, we learn the provisions of section 168A of Central GST Act 2017.
Section 168A of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 has been inserted by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 dated 31.03.2020.
| Name of Act | The Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017 |
|---|---|
| Enacted by | Parliament of India |
| Administered by | Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs |
| Governing body | GST Council |
| Number of Chapters | 21 |
| Number of Sections | 174 |
| You are reading: | |
| Chapter No. | XXI |
| Chapter Name | Miscellaneous |
| Section No. | 168A |
| Section Name | Power of Government to extend time limit in special circumstances |
| Updated 2024 Edition | GST Law Book PDF |
Section 168A of Central GST – Power of Government to extend time limit in special circumstances1
Section 168A of CGST Act 2017 was inserted by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 dated 31.03.2020.
Section 168A(1) of CGST Act
Section 168A(1): Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Government may, on the recommendations of the Council, by notification, extend the time limit specified in, or prescribed or notified under, this Act in respect of actions which cannot be completed or complied with due to force majeure.
Section 168A(2) of CGST Act
Section 168A(2): The power to issue notification under sub-section (1) shall include the power to give retrospective effect to such notification from a date not earlier than the date of commencement of this Act.
Explanation: For the purposes of this section, the expression ”force majeure” means a case of war, epidemic, flood, drought, fire, cyclone, earthquake or any other calamity ca used by nature or otherwise affecting the implementation of any of the provisions of this Act.
Notification No. 35/2020-Central Tax, G.S.R. 235(E), dated 03.04.2020 as amended by Notification No. 91/2020-Central Tax, G.S.R. 759(E), dated 14.12.2020:
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 168A of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (12 of 2017) (hereafter in this notification referred to as the said Act), read with section 20 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (13 of 2017), and section 21 of Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (14 of 2017), in view of the spread of pandemic COVID-19 across many countries of the world including India, the Government, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby notifies, as under,-
(i) where, any time limit for completion or compliance of any action, by any authority or by any person, has been specified in, or prescribed or notified under the said Act, which falls during the period from the 20th day of March, 2020 to the 30th day of August, 2020, and where completion or compliance of such action has not been made within such time, then, the time limit for completion or compliance of such action, shall be extended upto the 31st day of August, 2020, including for the purposes of-
- (a) completion of any proceeding or passing of any order or issuance of any notice, intimation, notification, sanction or approval or such other action, by whatever name called, by any authority, commission or tribunal, by whatever name called, under the provisions of the Acts stated above; or
- (b) filing of any appeal, reply or application or furnishing of any report, document, return, statement or such other record, by whatever name called, under the provisions of the Acts stated above;
but, such extension of time shall not be applicable for the compliances of the provisions of the said Act, as mentioned below –
- (a) Chapter IV;
- (b) sub-section (3) of section 10, sections 25, 27, 31, 37, 47, 50, 69, 90, 122, 129;
- (c) section 39, except sub-section (3), (4) and (5);
- (d) section 68, in so far as e-way bill is concerned; and
- (e) rules made under the provisions specified at clause (a) to (d) above;
Update (14.12.2020): Provided that where, any time limit for completion or compliance of any action, by any authority, has been specified in, or prescribed or notified under section 171 of the said Act, which falls during the period from the 20th day of March, 2020 to the 30th day of March, 2021, and where completion or compliance of such action has not been made within such time, then, the time-limit for completion or compliance of such action, shall be extended up to the 31st day of March, 2021. – This proviso was inserted vide Notification No. 65/2020-Central Tax, G.S.R. 542(E), dated 01.09.2020 and amended by Notification No. 91/2020-Central Tax, G.S.R. 759(E), dated 14.12.2020 w.e.f. 01.12.2020.
(ii) where an e-way bill has been generated under rule 138 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 and its period of validity expires during the period 20th day of March, 2020 to 15th day of April, 2020, the validity period of such e-way bill shall be deemed to have been extended till the 30th day of April, 2020.
Notification No. 46/2020-Central Tax, G.S.R. 361(E), dated 09.06.2020:
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 168A of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (12 of 2017) (hereafter in this notification referred to as the said Act), read with section 20 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (13 of 2017), and section 21 of Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (14 of 2017), in view of the spread of pandemic COVID-19 across many countries of the world including India, the Government, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby notifies that in cases where a notice has been issued for rejection of refund claim, in full or in part and where the time limit for issuance of order in terms of the provisions of sub-section (5), read with sub-section (7) of section 54 of the said Act falls during the period from the 20th day of March, 2020 to the 30th day of August, 2020, in such cases the time limit for issuance of the said order shall be extended to fifteen days after the receipt of reply to the notice from the registered person or the 31st day of August, 2020, whichever is later.
- Section 168A of CGST Act 2017 was inserted by the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Ordinance, 2020 dated 31.03.2020. ↩︎