India GST Late Payment Interest Calculator (Section 50)

About the India GST Late Payment Interest Calculator (Section 50)

Under section 50 of the CGST Act, tax paid after its due date carries interest at 18% a year, counted from the day after the due date. When the GSTR-3B itself is filed late, the interest is only on the part of the tax paid in cash (Rule 88B(1)) — not on the tax set off with input tax credit — and input tax credit that was wrongly availed and utilised carries interest from the date it was utilised until it is reversed (section 50(3)).

Enter each late liability — a late return, a short payment found later, or ITC to reverse — with its dates and the tax by head (IGST, CGST, SGST/UTGST, cess). The calculator gives the days of delay, the interest for every head and line, the interest for each further day and the head-wise totals rounded to the rupee, ready to enter in GSTR-3B or to pay with DRC-03. It pairs with the GST late fee calculator, which works out the late fee for the same return; nothing you enter leaves your browser.

Common uses

• Work out the interest for a GSTR-3B you are filing after the due date.
• Add interest to a short payment or an ITC reversal before paying it through DRC-03.
• Check the interest the GST portal shows, or the interest in a notice, line by line.
• See how much each extra day of delay costs before you decide when to pay.

The interest rules

• Tax paid late — section 50(1): interest at the rate the Government notifies, at most 18% a year; Notification 13/2017-Central Tax fixes 18%. It runs from the day after the tax was due (section 50(2)) until it is paid.
• Return filed late — proviso to section 50(1) and Rule 88B(1): interest only on the tax paid by debiting the electronic cash ledger, for the delay in filing. Cash credited to the ledger on or before the due date and kept there until the return used it is left out. This does not apply when the return is filed after proceedings under section 73, 74 or 74A have started: interest is then on the tax as a whole.
• Other short payments — Rule 88B(2): on the tax that stayed unpaid, from its due date until it is paid.
• ITC wrongly availed and utilised — section 50(3) and Rule 88B(3): at most 24% by the Act, 18% as notified — the Finance Act, 2022 amended Notification 13/2017 from 24% to 18% with effect from the start of GST (Finance Bill, 2022, clause 115 and the Sixth Schedule). The credit counts as utilised when the credit ledger balance falls below it, to the extent it falls below; the date is the return’s due date or filing date, whichever is earlier, when the return used it, otherwise the date of the debit.
• Rounding — section 170: tax and interest payable are rounded to the nearest rupee: 50 paise or more up, less than 50 paise dropped. The calculator rounds each tax head.

Sources: section 50, Rule 88B, section 49 and section 170 on CBIC’s tax information portal.

Due dates the helper uses

• GSTR-3B, monthly: the 20th of the following month (Rule 61(1)(i)).
• GSTR-3B, quarterly (QRMP): the 22nd of the month after the quarter for Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep; the 24th for the other States and Union territories (Rule 61(1)(ii)).
• PMT-06 (QRMP, first two months of a quarter): the 25th of the following month (Rule 61(3)).

Tax is due by the last date for filing the return (section 39(7)). Due dates are often extended by notification for a month, a State or a class of taxpayers: enter the extended date when one applies. Rule 61

Paying the interest

Interest is paid from the electronic cash ledger — input tax credit can be used only for output tax (section 49(3)–(4)). With a return, the interest goes in GSTR-3B with the tax (Rule 61(2)). Tax and interest you pay on your own, for example when reversing ITC or making good a short payment found later, are reported in FORM GST DRC-03 (Rule 142(2)). Each head — integrated, central, State or Union territory tax and cess — is paid under its own head.

Limitations

• Due dates extended by notification are not built in: enter the extended date.
• The ITC line needs the amount actually utilised and its date; the calculator does not read your electronic credit ledger to find them.
• Temporary reduced rates notified for a few past tax periods are not applied automatically: enter the rate yourself if one applies to your period.
• Interest is worked out as amount × rate × days ÷ 365 for every line; a notice or the portal may round intermediate amounts differently by a few paise.
• An estimate for information, not tax advice. The amount the GST portal or a tax officer works out is what you pay.

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