(With PTI inputs)

NEW DELHI: The government has extended the due date of filing annual Goods and Services Tax (GST) return by three months. "The competent authority has decided to extend the due date for filing GSTR-9, GSTR-9A and GSTR-9C till March 31, 2019," the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) said in a notification on Friday. The previous deadline was December 31, 2018."The requisite forms shall be made available on the GST common portal shortly," the notification added.It further stated that "Form GSTR-9 and form GSTR-9A have been notified dated 04.09.2018 (September 4) while form GSTR-9C has been notified dated 13.09.2018 (September 13) as part of the CGST rules."GSTR-9 is the annual return form for normal taxpayers, GSTR-9A is composition taxpayers, while GSTR-9C is a reconciliation statement.The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) had urged finance minister Arun Jaitley to extend the last date for filing annual GST return . It noted that the concept is till unclear to a large number of traders and most are not even aware of the obligation of filing annual GST return."Under such circumstances it will not be possible for the traders to file their annual GST return by the stipulated period and as an immediate measure, the CAIT has urged to extend the last date of filing annual GST return up to March 31 2019 for the period 2017-18," the CAIT said.