An important update for taxpayers, start filing GST Returns now or face huge drawbacks in your business operations. The notification will have a drastic effect on taxpayers as the E-Way Bill generation blocking facility is going to resume soon. In this article, we will understand the latest update on GST by the government regarding E-Way Bill generation from the portal blocking facility.
What is the E-Way Bill?
E-waybill refers to Electronic Way bill. It is an electronic document generated on the GST portal permitting the movement of goods.
In other words, an E-Way bill is like a receipt and it contains information regarding the shipment of a consignment and other details including the name of the consignor (sender of goods), the consignee (receiver), the place of origin and destination of the consignment, and the route accessed.
Furthermore, the Generation of E-Way bills is mandatory for all interstate and intrastate movement of goods having a value exceeding ₹50,000/-. Thus, businesses mostly require generation E-Way bills to operate their businesses properly.
The reason why E-Way bills are so important for the government is it prevents tax evasion and helps the government in tracking the movement of goods.
To know more about E-Way Bills, you can read our detailed guide here- E-way Bill Guide
Know about Rule 138E of CGST Rules regarding E-Way Bill generation from portal blocking
The GST Authority added a new rule 138E to the CGST Rules on December 13, 2018. It states the following –
- Firstly, In case the GST return filing has not been done for the last 2 months by the regular dealer OR
- Secondly, In case the GST return filing has not been done for the last 2 quarters by a taxpayer having GST registration under the composition scheme,
Then the taxpayer or dealer won’t be able to generate the E-Way Bill. Consequently, it is permissible to generate e-way bills only after GST Return filing.
Understand the Rule 138E in detail – E-Way Bill Generation Blocked for Taxpayers not filing GST Return
Resuming of E-Way Bill generation from Portal blocking facility
Due to the complexity in filing GST Returns and pandemics, many taxpayers reported several issues in the process. Therefore, to address this issue, the government suspended the Blocking of E-Way Bill (EWB) generation facility and also announced several relaxation schemes for example – Amnesty Scheme.
This scheme gives an opportunity to file GST Returns at a minimum cost possible capping the late fees.
However, considering the opening up of lockdown and reduction in COVID-19 Cases, the Indian Government has decided to again implement Blocking of E-Way Bill (EWB) generation facilities.
Thus, encouraging taxpayers to file GST Returns on time and avail the benefits of the Amnesty Scheme.
In simple words, in case the person fails to file their return in Form GSTR-3B / statement in CMP-08, for a consecutive period of two months / Quarters or more.
The government has now decided to resume the blocking of EWB generation facilities on the EWB portal, for all the taxpayers in terms of Rule 138 E (a) and (b) of the CGST Rules, 2017, from 15th August onwards.
Thus, after 15th August 2021, the System will check the status of returns filed in Form GSTR-3B or the statements filed in Form GST CMP-08, and restrict the generation of EWB in case of:
- Non-filing of two or more returns in Form GSTR-3B for the months up to June 2021 and
- Non-filing of 02 or more statements in Form GST CMP-08 for the quarters up to April to June 2021
In Conclusion, the government advises taxpayers to file GST Returns immediately especially GSTR-3B and CMP-08 to avail the functions of the EWB generation facility continuously.
Bank Account Updation mandatory in GST Registration else Deactivated
If you want any other guidance related to GST Registration or GST Return Filing, please feel free to talk to our business advisors at 8881-069-069.
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