GST Returns Filling and Due Dates for different GSTR Forms

Who has to file GST Returns?

In the GST regime, any regular business has to file three monthly returns and one annual return. This amounts to 37 returns in a year.

The beauty of the system is that one has to manually enter details of one monthly return – GSTR-1. The other two returns – GSTR 2 & 3 will get auto-populated by deriving information from GSTR-1 filed by you and your vendors.

There are separate returns required to be filed by special cases such as composition dealers .

When to file which GSTR Forms:

Business

Return Form	Particulars	Interval	Due Date
GSTR-1	Details of outward supplies of taxable goods and/or services effected	Monthly*	10th of the next month
GSTR-2	Details of inward supplies of taxable goods and/or services effected claiming input tax credit.	Monthly*	15th of the next month
GSTR-3	Monthly return on the basis of finalization of details of outward supplies and inward supplies along with the payment of amount of tax.	Monthly*	20th of the next month
GSTR-9	Annual Return	Annually	31st December of next financial year
GSTR-3B	Provisional return for the months of July 2017 to March 2018	Monthly	20th of the next month

Dealer

Return Form	Particulars	Interval	Due Date
GSTR-4	Return for compounding taxable person	Quarterly	18th of the month succeeding quarter**
GSTR-9A	Annual Return	Monthly	31st December of next financial year

Specific Registered Dealers:

Return Form	Particulars	Interval	Due Date
GSTR-5	Return for Non-Resident foreign taxable person	Monthly	20th of the next month***
GSTR-6	Return for Input Service Distributor	Monthly	13th of the next month***
GSTR-7	Return for authorities deducting tax at source.	Monthly	10th of the next month
GSTR-8	Details of supplies effected through e-commerce operator and the amount of tax collected	Monthly	10th of the next month
GSTR-10	Final Return	Once. When registration is cancelled or surrendered	Within three months of the date of cancellation or date of cancellation order, whichever is later.
GSTR-11	Details of inward supplies to be furnished by a person having UIN and claiming refund	Monthly	28th of the month following the month for which statement is filed

Penalty after due Date

If GST Returns are not filed within time, you will be liable to pay interest and a late fee.

Interest is 18% per annum. It has to be calculated by the tax payer on the amount of outstanding tax to be paid. Time period will be from the next day of filing to the date of payment.

Late fee is Rs. 100 per day per Act. So it is 100 under CGST & 100 under SGST. Total will be Rs. 200/day. Maximum is Rs. 5,000. There is no late fee on IGST.

GSTR-1:

Submit monthly details of outward supplies in Form GSTR-1 by the 10th of next month. This form contains

• Basic details like Business Name along with Goods and Service Taxpayer Identification Number (GSTIN), period for which the return is being filed, etc.
• Details of invoices issued in the previous month and the corresponding taxes to be paid.
• Details of advances received against a supply to be made in future.
• Details of revision in relation to outward sales invoices pertaining to previous tax periods.

Say for e.g. If a person has entered into a transaction of supply of goods, then there must be someone who would be the recipient of the supply of goods. Supplier of the goods would be originating point of the transaction and he would specify, in his return, details of the supply along with the recipient to whom supply has been effected. The return for the inward supplies of the recipient of the supply would get auto-populated with the details provided by the supplier in his return for the outward supplies. Thus, GSTR-1 becomes the base document upon which the entire compliance structure in GST would be based. 

FORM GSTR-2

Submit monthly details of inward supplies in Form GSTR-2 by the 15th of next month.

GSTR-2 includes details of the inward supplies or purchases of goods and/or services by the taxpayer. Data in GSTR-2 is auto populated based on the GSTR-1 filed by the taxpayer. You (as the taxpayer) just have to validate this auto populated information on the GSTN portal and make modifications, if required. For example, if you are buying goods from company B, then company B would have filed its GSTR-1 and included your name and GSTINas the buyer. Accordingly, the same information will be reflected in your GSTR-2 as purchases which you need to validate. GSTR-2 will thus include the details of auto-populated purchases.

There is no option to revise the GSTR-2. However, rectification (if any) is to be made in the GSTR-2 for consecutive months.

Once the supplier furnishes the details of the supply and recipient in GSTR-1, details would be auto-populated and communicated to the recipient in GSTR-2A. Recipient would confirm the details filled in by the supplier in GSTR-1 and reflected in GSTR-2A. If he agrees with the same, the transaction would be frozen and GSTR-2 would be prepared. However, if the recipient disagrees then recipient would communicate to the supplier about his disagreements which then would be reflected in GSTR-1A to the supplier. Supplier in turn would have the option to modify the details furnished in GSTR-1 as per the request of the recipient auto-populated before him in GSTR-1A or keep the details unchanged. 

FORM GSTR-3

Submit monthly return along with payment of tax due in Form GSTR-3 by the 20th of next month.

GSTR-3 is a combined version of GSTR-1 and GSTR-2 with details of sales provided under GSTR-1 and details of purchases mentioned in GSTR-2 along with the GST liability for the month. You (as the taxpayer) just have to validate this auto populated information and make modifications, if required.

GSTR-3 includes the following details:

• Information about input tax credit ledger, cash ledger, and liability ledger of the taxpayer.
• Details of payment of tax as CGST, SGST, and IGST.
• Taxpayer will have the option of claiming a refund of excess payment or to carry forward the credit.

This would be a consolidated monthly return and will contain details of tax liability along with the tax collected on outward supplies and tax paid on inward supplies by registered person. It would be auto-populated through GSTR-1 and GSTR-2 of the registered person. There would be minimal manual intervention and system itself would be updating records.

FORM GSTR-3B

• To address the concerns raised by the various trade and industrial bodies, and to ensure the smooth roll out of GST, the GST Council decided to extend the timeline for invoice-wise return filing in Form GSTR-1 and Form GSTR-2 for a period of six months, i.e. up to December, 2017. Now businesses need to file a simple return in Form GSTR-3B by declaring the summary of inward supplies and outward supplies.

FORM GSTR-4

Submit quarterly return in Form GSTR-4 by 18th of the month after the end of a quarter.

A small taxpayer (i.e. a taxpayer with a turnover of up to Rs. 1 Crore) has the option to opt for the composition scheme. In such a case, he would be required to pay taxes at a fixed rate depending on the type of his business (2% for manufacturers, 5% for restaurant service sector and 1% for other suppliers). Although no input tax credit facility would be available under the composite scheme. A taxpayer opting for the composition scheme would be required to file a simplified quarterly return in Form GSTR-4. GSTR-4 includes the following details:

• The total value of consolidated supply made during the period of return, i.e. during the quarter.
• Details of payment of tax.
• Declare invoice-level purchase information.

FORM GSTR-9

Submit annual return in Form GSTR-9 of Form GSTR-9A by 31st December of next financial year:

All taxpayers would be required to submit an annual return under the GST regime in Form GSTR-9. This is intended to provide complete visibility about the activities of the taxpayer. However, any taxable person registered under composition scheme and filing quarterly in Form GSTR-4 is required to submit the annual return in Form GSTR-9A.

Key features of the annual return form:

• It will be a detailed return and will capture details of the income and expenditure of the taxpayer and will regroup the same with the monthly returns.
• A major advantage of this return will be that it provides the opportunity to correct any short reporting of activities undertaken.
• The system will automatically reconcile all the data filed earlier and determine tax liability payable if any against the tax actually paid.
• The due date for filing the return is 31st December of every year in respect of the financial year ending on 31st March of that year. The same has to be filed along with the audited copies of the annual accounts of the taxpayer.