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New Delhi, Jun 13: In a bid to provide relief to small businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic, the GST Council on Friday decided to halve the interest rate on late filing of GSTR-3B returns for the period of February, March and April 2020.

The interest rate on late return filing will be 9% from the usual 18% till September 30, 2020. The benefit will be available for small taxpayers with aggregate turnover of up to Rs 5 crore.

For the three months, small taxpayers will not be charged any interest till the notified dates for relief and thereafter 9% interest will be charged till September 30, a Finance Ministry statement said.

"For small taxpayers (aggregate turnover upto Rs 5 crore), for the supplies effected in the month of February, March and April 2020, the rate of interest for late furnishing of return for the said months beyond specified dates (staggered upto 6th July 2020) is reduced from 18 per cent per annum to 9 per cent per annum till 30.09.2020," said the statement.

The Council has also extended relief to small taxpayers for subsequent period of 2020 through waiver of late fees and interest if the returns in Form GSTR-3B for the supplies effected in the months of May, June and July are furnished by September 2020.

It has also decided to reduce the late fee on the filing of GSTR-3B returns for the period between July 2017 and January 2020. The late fee has been capped at Rs 500, but interest will be charged at the existing rate on the due tax liability.

Speaking to the media in New Delhi after a GST Council meet through videoconference, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that those entities with no tax liability will not have to submit the late fee for the period.

For entities with tax liability but which have not filed returns or have filed returns late, the late fee has been capped at Rs 500 without interest. Interest will, however, be payable on the tax component at the applicable rate for delays.

To facilitate taxpayers who could not get their cancelled GST registrations restored in time, the Council has provided an opportunity for filing of application for revocation of cancellation of registration up to September 30, 2020, in all cases where registrations have been cancelled till June 12, 2020.

Chennai, Mar 3: The Madras High Court has ruled that if a working woman gives birth to a child in the second delivery after twins in the first, she is not entitled to maternity benefits as it should be treated as third child.

"As per existing rules, a woman can avail such benefits only for her first two deliveries. Even otherwise it is debatable as to whether the delivery is not a second delivery but a third one, in as much as ordinarily when twins are born they are delivered one after another, and their age and their inter-se elderly status is also determined by virtue of the gap of time between their arrivals, which amounts to two deliveries and not one simultaneous act," the court said.

The first bench, comprising Chief Justice A P Sahi and Justice Subramonium Prasad stated this while allowing the appeal from Ministry of Home Affairs.

It set aside the order June 18 2019 order of a single Judge, who extended 180 days of maternity leave and other benefits to a woman member of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) under the rules governing the Tamil Nadu government servants.

The issue pertains to an appeal moved by the ministry, which contended that the leave claim is by a member of CISF to whom the maternity rules of Tamil Nadu would not apply.

She would be covered by the maternity benefits as provided under the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, the ministry said.

When the appeal came up for hearing, the bench said it found that a second delivery, which, in the present case, resulted in a third child, cannot be interpreted so as to add to the mathematical precision that is defined in the rules.

The admissibility of benefits would be limited if the claimant has not more than two children, the bench said "This fact therefore changes the entire nature of the relief which is sought for by the woman petitioner, which aspect has been completely overlooked by the single judge", the bench said.

New Delhi, Mar 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday interacted with Indian ambassadors and high commissioners abroad and urged them to remain alert to developments in global efforts against COVID-19 including breakthroughs to help the country's fight against the coronavirus.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla were also present during the interaction through video-conferencing.

"Coming together for India PM interacted with Indian Ambassadors/High Commissioners abroad and urged them to remain alert to developments in global efforts against COVID-19 including breakthroughs to help our national efforts to fight COVID19," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

"PM appreciated the efforts of our missions in helping Indians abroad, in particular, students and workers," he added.

The number of positive coronavirus cases in the country stood at 1,071 on Monday. It includes 29 deaths and 99 people, who have been cured of the highly contagious virus.