The change will come into effect November 1, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said Friday in its notification on the insertion of Section 128A into the rules. Section 128 provides for waiver of penalty or fee.
The changes were approved by the GST Council at its 53rd meeting with the objective of reducing tax litigation in respect to cases where evasion was not wilful or was due to interpretation of law or the industry practices.
“Our intent is to make the GST assessees’ life easier, simpler and less cumbersome … We are working towards less and less compliance,” union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, chairperson of the council, had said after the meeting held in the capital.
The GST Council also notified a provision which enables businesses to rectify and claim any missed input tax credit (ITC) during the specified period, effective September 27. This provision seeks to mitigate the risk of disputes or penalties over past ITC ineligibility.
“These changes collectively demonstrate the government’s commitment to reducing compliance challenges and fostering a more business-friendly tax regime,” said Rajat Mohan, executive director at accounting and advisory network MOORE Singhi.