Assam Government Notifies Waiver of Late Fees for GSTR-7 Filings

The Government of Assam, through its Finance (Taxation) Department, issued a significant Notification-State Tax on October 17, 2025, providing a waiver of late fees for certain Goods and Services Tax (GST) compliance failures. This notification, designated eCF No.151446/331, was enacted in exercise of the powers conferred by section 128 of the Assam Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (Assam Act No. XXVIII of 2017). It specifically addresses the late fee payable under section 47 of the said Act for registered persons who are mandated to deduct tax at source under section 51 of the Act.

The primary provision of the notification grants a waiver of late fees for the failure to furnish the return in FORM GSTR-7 for the month of June, 2021, onwards, by the stipulated due date. This relief is extended to registered persons required to deduct tax at source, aiming to alleviate the financial burden associated with delayed filings. The waiver applies to the amount of late fee that is in excess of twenty-five rupees for every day during which such failure continues. Furthermore, the notification specifies that the total amount of late fee payable under section 47 for such failures shall stand waived if it is in excess of one thousand rupees. A complete waiver of the total late fee is also provided for registered persons who fail to furnish the FORM GSTR-7 return by the due date, where the total amount of state tax deducted at source in that particular month is nil. The legislation provided: “the Governor of Assam, on the recommendations of the Council, is hereby pleased to waive the amount of late fee payable under section 47 of the said Act by any registered person, required to deduct tax at source under the provisions of section 51 of the said Act, for failure to furnish the return in FORM GSTR-7 for the month of June, 2021 onwards, by the due date, which is in excess of an amount of twenty-five rupees for every day during which such failure continues”. This notification is deemed to have come into force from November 1, 2024, and supersedes the previous notification No. FTX.56/2017/Pt-V/71 dated January 24, 2022, published in the Assam Gazette, Extraordinary, vide number 55, dated February 1, 2022, except for actions already taken or omitted under the prior notification.

The legislative intent behind this notification is to provide relief and ease the compliance burden on taxpayers, particularly those involved in tax deduction at source (TDS) under the GST regime. The earlier legal position, governed by the superseded notification, did not offer these specific waivers, leading to potentially high late fee liabilities for delayed GSTR-7 filings. This new measure addresses statutory gaps and limitations where the punitive aspect of late fees under Section 47 might have been disproportionately high, especially for taxpayers with minimal or no actual tax deducted at source. By introducing these waivers, the government aims to encourage compliance by mitigating excessive penalties, thereby fostering a more taxpayer-friendly environment. The notification introduces new rights for registered persons to claim a waiver of late fees under specified conditions, effectively amending the enforcement mechanism for late filing penalties for FORM GSTR-7.

Keywords: Assam GST, GSTR-7, late fee waiver, Goods and Services Tax, tax compliance, Finance Department, Section 128, Section 47, Section 51 Geo Tags: India, Assam District: Not Applicable