The Indian government freaked out small taxpayers yesterday, all thanks to a poorly worded text message.
The message sent out created confusion and panic, as taxpayers thought that they had defaulted on their GST returns.
While the government has not issued a clarification yet, there is nothing to worry about.
If you have received a similar message, read on to find out what the government actually intends to say.
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It’s extremely important to word your messages carefully – especially when you’re a government agency. This couldn’t have been more evident when the government sent out text messages yesterday to GST taxpayers.
The messages sent out yesterday read something like this:
“Dear xxx as per QRMP scheme you are defaulted to file your GSTR-1 and 3B on quarterly basis from Jan-Mar 21. To change pls visit services.gst.gov.in”
This caused widespread confusion among GST taxpayers.
While the government intended to inform these users that they have been transferred to the Quarterly Returns Monthly Payment (QRMP) scheme, the wording confused people, suggesting that they had defaulted on their GST returns.
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Many took to Twitter expressing confusion and panic.
I got a message yest saying I had defaulted to file my GSTR-1 & 3B on quarterly basis from Jan to Mar 21. How does… https://t.co/T1xfxawO5i
#QRMP Scheme!With respect to #QRMP Scheme, recently small taxpayers received a message.Looks like intention was… https://t.co/uwSxAtvIFj
— SS Chauhan Advocate (TTS) (@sandychauhan44) 1608567994000
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Others pointed out that the Finance Ministry should have been careful in drafting the message.
The way GST portal is sending the QRMP SCHEME SMS with the word "defaulted", has created lots of confusion among ta… https://t.co/N8yzjvk6dj
— CA Nitin Nayak (@CANitinNayak) 1608562507000
@GSTN_IT system generated msg of #QRMP has created confusion due to improper language.Wordings should be:Dear 24… https://t.co/LcUq6iqB6F
— CA Prerak Jobanputra (@caprerakj) 1608559212000
The Finance Ministry and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs, the agency responsible for this, are yet to issue a clarification.
There’s nothing to worry about
As others have already clarified, if you have received this message, there is nothing to worry about. The message does not state that you have defaulted on your GST returns.
However, if you want to continue to file your GST returns on a monthly basis, you will have to login to the GSTN portal and change your settings.
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Ideally, the government should have made this an opt-in facility instead of opt-out.
To recap, the government announced a QRMP scheme for small taxpayers with turnover of up to ₹5 crore. This scheme comes into effect from January 1, 2021.
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