Text
The text below is the section as served by the CBIC tax information portal on 17 September 2026, with the portal's own amendment footnote markers (shown as small numerals before a bracket) and its footnotes.[1] The Act as published in the Gazette of India is the legal source.
Section 124, verbatim (show)
* Section 124. Fine for failure to furnish statistics.- If any person required to furnish any information or return under section 151,-
(a) without reasonable cause fails to furnish such information or return as may be required under that section, or (b) wilfully furnishes or causes to furnish any information or return which he knows to be false, he shall be punishable with a fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees and in case of a continuing offence to a further fine which may extend to one hundred rupees for each day after the first day during which the offence continues subject to a maximum limit of twenty- five thousand rupees.
*Enforced w.e.f. 1st July, 2017 .
Questions to answer on the file
Questions a reviewer answers from the engagement file, grouped by the part of the section they come from. They describe what the section asks; they do not decide it.
Scope the section as a whole
Questions to answer on the file2 questions
The person required to furnish information or a return under section 151 the opening words
Questions to answer on the file5 questions
Clause (a): failure without reasonable cause 124(a)
Questions to answer on the file3 questions
Clause (b): wilfully furnishing information known to be false 124(b)
Questions to answer on the file4 questions
The fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees the fine limb
Questions to answer on the file2 questions
The further fine for a continuing offence the continuing-offence limb
Questions to answer on the file4 questions
The maximum limit of twenty-five thousand rupees the limit words
Questions to answer on the file1 question
Which wording of section 151 governs the substitution of 01.01.2022
Questions to answer on the file3 questions
Amendment history
The CBIC text carries 1 footnote. The table gives each in the source's own terms. Effective dates are as the footnotes state them.[1]
| Note | Change | Instrument | Effective from |
|---|---|---|---|
| records the commencement of the section; it does not change its words | the notification enforcing the section | w.e.f. 1st July, 2017 |
Relationship with other provisions
| Provision | Connection | Words that tie them |
|---|---|---|
| Section 151 | this provision requires Section 151 | "any person required to furnish any information or return under section 151" |
| Section 151 | Section 151 branches on the substitution of 01.01.2022 | section 151 footnote 1 "Substituted (w.e.f. 1st January, 2022 vide Notification No. 39/2021-C.T., dated 21st December, 2021) by s. 119 of The Finance Act, 2021" |
| Section 151 | the requirement 124 enforces, from 01.01.2022 defined by Section 151 as substituted | 151 "The Commissioner or an officer authorised by him may, by an order, direct any person to furnish information relating to any matter dealt with in connection with this Act" |
| Section 151 | the requirement 124 enforces, to 31.12.2021 defined by Section 151 as it stood | the words the footnote preserves: "may call upon the concerned persons to furnish such information or returns, in such form and manner as may be prescribed" |
Circulars and notifications
Circulars and notifications in the CBIC repository that cite this section, newest first, by number, date and subject. A listing here does not say what an instrument decides; read the instrument.
Circulars (1)
| Number | Date | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| Circular No. 224/18/2024-GST | 11 July 2024 | Guidelines for recovery of outstanding dues, in cases wherein first appeal has been disposed of, till Appellate Tribunal comes into operation. |
Notifications (2)
| Number | Date | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| Notification No. 12/2024-Central Tax | 10 July 2024 | Seeks to make amendments (Amendment, 2024) to the CGST Rules, 2017. |
| Notification No. 16/2019-Central Tax | 29 March 2019 | Seeks to make Second Amendment (2019) to CGST Rules. |
Unsettled questions
The words of section 124 do not answer these questions. Where one decides a matter on the file, the answer depends on the position taken on it.
- What is a reasonable cause for the purposes of clause (a)? The clause makes the absence of one an ingredient and gives no test of it.
- Does the maximum limit of twenty-five thousand rupees attach to the further fine alone, or to the fine and the further fine together? The words follow the further-fine limb and the sentence carries both.
- Does section 124 reach a failure in respect of a requirement made under the substituted section 151, which calls for information only? Section 124 is headed "Fine for failure to furnish statistics" and speaks of "any information or return", and the substituted section 151 neither collects statistics nor speaks of a return.
See also
- Section 151 of the CGST Act, 2017: power to call for information
References
- Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. "Section 124. Fine for failure to furnish statistics". Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, CBIC tax information portal, with amendment footnotes 1 to 1. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
External links
- CGST Act, 2017, Section 124 on the CBIC tax information portal