ORDER :

D.BHARATHA CHAKRAVARTHY, J. 

Whether a late fee can be levied under Section 47 of the Central/Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for non-filing of Form GSTR-9-C within time is the question raised in the instant writ petition.

2. The writ petition challenges the impugned order of assessment dated 04.12.2025, passed under Section 73 of the Tamil Nadu Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as ''the TNGST Act, 2017''), under which the petitioner has been directed to pay a late fee of Rs.84,700/- for SGST and Rs.84,700/- for CGST, totalling Rs.1,69,400/- for belated filing of the reconciliation statement in Form 9-C.

3. The impugned order rests on the fact that, for the Assessment Year 2021–2022, the deadline for filing the annual return in Form GSTR-9 was 31.12.2022. The petitioner filed the return late on 13.01.2023, a delay of 13 days. The petitioner does not contest this delay and has, in fact, paid the applicable late fee.

4. However, since the petitioner’s turnover exceeded Rs.5 crores, a reconciliation statement in Form GSTR-9C was required to be filed along with the annual return. The petitioner failed to do so and filed it belatedly only on 09.05.