The due date of filing of GST summary sales returns in Form GSTR 3B for July has been extended to October 5 from August 20 for the flood affected areas.

Government today extended the last date for filing of GST returns for taxpayers registered in flood hit Kerala, Mahe (Puducherry) and Kodagu district of Karnataka.

The revenue department has also exempted basic customs duty and Integrated Goods and Service Tax (IGST) on import/supply of goods for flood relief in Kerala.

The due date of filing of GST summary sales returns in Form GSTR 3B for July has been extended to October 5 from August 20 for the flood affected areas.

However, for other taxpayers, the date has been extended only till August 24. Taxpayers in these flood affected areas will be given time till October 10 for filing GSTR-3B for the month of August.

"In view of disruption caused due to severe floods in Kerala, Mahe (Puducherry) and Kodagu (Karnataka), the competent authority has extended the due dates for filing of (GSTR-3B and GSTR-1) by taxpayers" registered in these areas, an official statement said.

As regards Form GSTR-1 (sales return), taxpayers having turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore can now file their July-September quarter return up to November 15.

For others in the flood affected areas, the filing date for July GSTR 1 has been extended to October 5 and for the month of August to October 10.

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said: "In light of the inconvenience faced by the people of Kerala due to the flood situation, the GST returns for the month of July can now be filed by October 5th, and the returns for the month of August can now be filed by October 10th".

He also said that in order to facilitate filing of easy GST returns, the government has extended the due date of filing GSTR-3B return to August 24.

"We are committed to ensuring that GST is a Good and Simple Tax," he said.

Earlier in the day, Goyal, who also hold railways portfolio, said Kerala is likely to get around Rs 200 crore from railways for rehabilitation works.

He has appealed to the national transporter's 13 lakh employees across 16 zones to voluntarily donate a day's salary for the cause.