At the 53rd GST Council Meeting, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced significant decisions to help traders, MSMEs, and taxpayers.
The Council has recommended waiving interest and penalties for demand notices issued under Section 73 of the GST Act. This applies to cases from the fiscal years 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20, provided the tax is paid by March 31, 2025. This relief is aimed at easing compliance burdens and facilitating trade.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said –
“Today, the 53rd GST Council Meeting has taken a lot of decisions on trade facilitation, easing compliance burden and giving relief to tax taxpayers in terms of compliance easing out. So this will benefit the traders, MSMEs and taxpayers…Today, the GST Council recommended waiving interest and penalties for demand notices that have been issued under Section 73 of the GST Act including cases not involving fraud, suppression or misstatements. For all those notices which were issued under Section 73 for the Fiscal Years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, the Council has recommended waiving interest and penalties on the demand notices which have been served…”
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Sitharaman chaired a pre-budget meeting with Finance Ministers from all States and Union Territories at Bharat Mandapam. This meeting is part of the preparations for the Union Budget 2024-25. Participants included Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna and Rajasthan Finance Minister Diya Kumari.
