WHEREAS, sub-section (1) of section 44 of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (West Ben. Act XXVIII of 2017) (hereafter in this Order referred to as the said Act) provides that every registered person, other than an Input Service Distributor, a person paying tax under section 51 or section 52, a casual taxable person and a non-resident taxable person, shall furnish an annual return for every financial year electronically in such form and manner as may be prescribed on or before the thirty-first day of December following the end of such financial year;

AND WHEREAS, for the purpose of furnishing of the annual return electronically for every financial year as referred to in sub-section (1) of section 44 of the said Act, the electronic system to be developed is at the advanced stage and is likely to be made operational by the 31st January, 2019 as a result whereof, the said annual return for the period from the 1st July, 2017 to the 31st March, 2018 could not be furnished by the registered persons, as referred to in the said sub-section (1) and because of that, certain difficulties have arisen in giving effect to the provisions of the said section;

NOW, THEREFORE, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 172 of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, the Governor, on recommendations of the Council, is pleased hereby to make the following Order, to remove the difficulties, namely:-

1. Short title.- This Order may be called the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2018.

2. In section 44 of the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, after sub-section (2), the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely:-

"Explanation.- For the purposes of this section, it is hereby declared that the annual return for the period from the 1st July, 2017 to the 31st March, 2018 shall be furnished on or before the 31st March, 2019.".

3. This notification shall be deemed to have come into force with effect from the 11th December, 2018.

By order of the Governor,

RAJSEKHAR BANDYOPADHYAY

Additional Secretary to the Government of West Bengal.