About GST Returns Filing

Monthly GSTR-1 GSTR-3B and annual GSTR-9 filing with GSTR-2B reconciliation. Forms handled: GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, GSTR-9, GSTR-9C. Legal basis: Section 39 CGST Act 2017 read with Rule 61.

Glossary

Plain-English glossary for this service

Invoice Furnishing Facility

Invoice Furnishing Facility is the optional mechanism within the QRMP framework permitting a registered person to upload B2B invoice details for the first two months of a quarter. Counterparty input tax credit visibility through GSTR-2B is preserved without waiting for the quarterly statement of outward supplies.

Section 49

Section 49 of the CGST Act governs the electronic cash ledger, the electronic credit ledger and the order in which they are utilised for discharge of liability. Sub-section (5) prescribes the IGST-first set-off sequence and sub-section (10) permits inter-head transfer within the cash ledger through Form PMT-09.

Notification 14/2022-CT

Notification 14/2022-Central Tax inserted Rule 88B prescribing the manner of computing interest under Section 50. The notification operationalised the proviso confining interest to the cash component on delayed return-filed liability and addressed wrongly availed and utilised credit through sub-rule (3), thereby settling a long-standing computational doubt.

GSTR-4

GSTR-4 is the annual return furnished by a composition taxpayer under Section 10 read with Rule 62. The return consolidates four quarterly CMP-08 statements and the inward supply summary for the financial year and is furnished on or before the thirtieth of April of the succeeding financial year.

Composite supply

Composite supply under Section 2(30) is two or more taxable supplies naturally bundled and supplied in conjunction, where one is the principal supply. The whole supply is taxed at the rate applicable to the principal supply. Compare with mixed supply under Section 2(74) which is taxed at the highest rate among the bundled items.

GSTR-2A

GSTR-2A is the dynamic statement of inward supplies that updates continuously as counterparties furnish or amend their outward filings. While it served as the primary ITC anchor in earlier periods, the current legal framework under Section 16(2)(aa) makes it useful chiefly for variance analysis and supplier follow-up.

Electronic Credit Ledger

Electronic Credit Ledger is the ledger maintained under Section 49(2) reflecting input tax credit availed through GSTR-3B. It is debited only for discharge of output tax in the manner prescribed under Section 49(4). Rule 86A enables temporary blocking and Rule 86B restricts utilisation to ninety-nine per cent of output liability for prescribed taxpayers.

Composition Scheme

Composition Scheme is the simplified tax payment scheme under Section 10 of the CGST Act available to small taxpayers with aggregate turnover up to one and a half crore rupees for goods or fifty lakh rupees for services. Tax is paid at a flat percentage of turnover without availing input tax credit, with CMP-08 furnished quarterly and GSTR-4 annually.

CMP-08

CMP-08 is the statement for payment of self-assessed tax by composition taxpayers under Section 10. It is furnished quarterly on or before the eighteenth of the month succeeding the quarter and accompanies cash discharge at the applicable composition rate of one, five or six per cent depending on the category of supply.

Section 17(5)

Sub-section (5) of Section 17 enumerates input tax credit categories that are blocked irrespective of business nexus. Clauses (a) to (i) cover motor vehicles outside permitted use, food and beverages, beauty and health services, club memberships, life and health insurance, employee vacation travel, works contract on immovable property and personal consumption.

Section 50

Section 50 of the CGST Act prescribes interest on delayed payment of tax. The proviso to sub-section (1), operationalised retrospectively from 1 July 2017, confines interest to the cash component where the return is furnished after the due date. Sub-section (3) attaches twenty-four per cent on wrongly availed and utilised credit.

Invoice Registration Portal

Invoice Registration Portal is the system designated by the Government for issuance of Invoice Reference Numbers on B2B invoices of taxpayers above the e-invoicing aggregate annual turnover threshold. It validates invoice particulars, generates the IRN and QR code, and feeds the corresponding entry into GSTR-1 of the supplier and GSTR-2B of the recipient.

Statutory Basis

Operative provisions cited on this page

Every claim on this page can be traced back to a section or rule below.

CGST Section 37Anchor

Furnishing details of outward supplies

Sub-section (1) of Section 37 obliges every registered person, other than an Input Service Distributor, a non-resident taxable person and persons paying tax under Section 10, Section 51 or Section 52, to furnish electronically the details of outward supplies of goods or services effected during a tax period. The particulars include invoice-wise B2B details, consolidated B2C details, debit notes, credit notes and exports. Sub-section (3) was amended by the Finance Act 2022 to substitute the rectification framework, and sub-section (4) was inserted to bar filing of GSTR-1 where an earlier period remains unfurnished. Notification 83/2020-CT prescribes the due date as the eleventh day of the month succeeding the tax period.

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CGST Section 39Anchor

Furnishing of returns

Section 39 is the operative provision for monthly and quarterly summary returns. Sub-section (1) requires every registered person, with specified exceptions, to furnish a return for each calendar month within twenty days after the end of such month. Sub-section (7) prescribes payment of tax not later than the last date for furnishing the return. The proviso introduced by the Finance Act 2022 permits a quarterly cadence under the QRMP framework where aggregate turnover in the preceding financial year does not exceed five crore rupees. Sub-section (9) was substituted to permit rectification of errors discovered after furnishing the return.

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CGST Section 44Anchor

Annual return

Section 44, as substituted by the Finance Act 2021 with effect from 1 August 2021, obliges 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, to furnish an annual return on or before the thirty-first day of December following the end of the financial year. The omitted Section 35(5) statutory audit was replaced by a self-certified reconciliation statement where aggregate turnover exceeds the threshold notified by the Central Government. Rule 80 operationalises the section and prescribes Forms GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C.

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CGST Section 16

Eligibility and conditions for taking input tax credit

Section 16 is the bedrock provision for input tax credit. Sub-section (2) lays down four cumulative conditions — possession of a tax invoice, receipt of goods or services, payment of tax to the government by the supplier through a credit reflecting in the recipient return, and furnishing of the recipient return under Section 39. Clause (aa) of sub-section (2), inserted by the Finance Act 2021 with effect from 1 January 2022, mandates that the supplier must have furnished details under Section 37 and the credit must be communicated to the recipient through GSTR-2B. The second proviso requires payment to the supplier within one hundred and eighty days, failing which the credit is reversed with interest.

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CGST Section 17(5)

Apportionment of credit and blocked credits

Sub-section (5) of Section 17 enumerates categories on which input tax credit shall not be available. Clauses (a) to (i) list motor vehicles other than for permitted onward use, food and beverages, beauty treatment, health services, club memberships, life and health insurance, travel benefits to employees on vacation, works contract services for construction of immovable property and goods or services used for personal consumption. The exclusion operates regardless of any business nexus. The registered person must therefore filter the purchase register against these clauses before furnishing GSTR-3B for the period.

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CGST Section 38

Communication of details of inward supplies and input tax credit

Section 38, as substituted by the Finance Act 2022, restructured the manner in which inward supply information is communicated to a recipient. Sub-section (2) provides that the details furnished by suppliers under Section 37 shall be made available to the recipient in such form and manner as may be prescribed. Rule 60 read with this section operationalises GSTR-2B as the auto-drafted statement of input tax credit. The substituted section also empowers the Government to prescribe the manner of restricting credit availability where supplier-side defaults are noticed.

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CGST Section 47

Levy of late fee

Section 47 prescribes the late fee for failure to furnish returns. Sub-section (1) attaches a fee of one hundred rupees per day under each CGST and SGST head, subject to a maximum, for default in furnishing GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B. Sub-section (2) prescribes a separate cap for the annual return under Section 44. Notification 76/2018-CT and subsequent amendments through Notification 19/2021-CT capped the late fee for nil returns at twenty rupees per day combined and for taxable returns at fifty rupees per day combined, with maximum amounts tied to the aggregate turnover of the registered person.

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CGST Section 50

Interest on delayed payment of tax

Section 50 prescribes interest at eighteen per cent per annum on tax remaining unpaid beyond the due date. The proviso to sub-section (1), inserted retrospectively with effect from 1 July 2017, confines interest to the net cash component where the return is furnished after the prescribed date but the credit is properly available. Sub-section (3) attaches interest at twenty-four per cent per annum where input tax credit has been wrongly availed and utilised, the manner of which is operationalised through Rule 88B inserted by Notification 14/2022-CT.

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Forms Library

Forms used in this engagement

GSTR-1Statement of Outward Supplies

Monthly or quarterly statement of outward supplies of goods or services capturing B2B invoice details, B2C consolidated entries, exports, credit and debit notes, advance receipts and HSN summary; drives recipient ITC visibility through GSTR-2B.

Eleventh of the succeeding month for monthly filers; thirteenth of the month succeeding the quarter for QRMP filers Common Portal (taxpayer)

GSTR-1AAmendment to Statement of Outward Supplies

Optional facility introduced with effect from August 2024 permitting amendments to GSTR-1 entries of the same tax period before furnishing the corresponding GSTR-3B; repairs an earlier procedural lacuna where invoice corrections had to wait for the succeeding period.

Between furnishing of GSTR-1 and furnishing of GSTR-3B for the same tax period Common Portal (taxpayer)

GSTR-2AAuto-drafted Statement of Inward Supplies

Dynamic statement reflecting outward supply entries uploaded by counterparties as and when they are furnished; updates continuously and is used primarily for variance analysis and supplier follow-up rather than direct ITC claim under the current Section 16(2)(aa) regime.

Updates continuously based on supplier filings Common Portal (system-generated)

GSTR-2BAuto-drafted ITC Statement

Static statement of input tax credit generated on the fourteenth of every month covering supplier filings from the eleventh of the previous month to the eleventh of the current month; the operative anchor for ITC claim under Section 16(2)(aa).

Generated on the fourteenth of every month and frozen thereafter for that tax period Common Portal (system-generated)

GSTR-3BSummary Return for Payment of Tax

Summary return capturing aggregate outward supply, eligible input tax credit, reverse-charge liability, net tax payable, set-off through credit and cash ledgers and payment of interest and late fee; the operative instrument for discharge of monthly liability.

Twentieth of the succeeding month for monthly filers; twenty-second or twenty-fourth for QRMP filers depending on State group Common Portal (taxpayer)

GSTR-4Annual Return for Composition Taxpayer

Annual return furnished by a registered person paying tax under the composition scheme of Section 10, consolidating quarterly CMP-08 statements and inward supply summary for the financial year.

Thirtieth of April of the succeeding financial year Common Portal (taxpayer)

GSTR-7Return for Tax Deducted at Source

Monthly return furnished by deductors under Section 51 capturing GSTINs of deductees, contract values, TDS deducted under CGST, SGST or IGST and payment particulars; the corresponding TDS credit flows to the deductee through GSTR-2A.

Tenth of the succeeding month Common Portal (TDS deductor)

GSTR-8Return for Tax Collected at Source

Monthly return furnished by e-commerce operators required to collect tax at source under Section 52, capturing supplies made through the platform, returns, and tax collected; the corresponding TCS credit flows to the seller-supplier through GSTR-2A.

Tenth of the succeeding month Common Portal (e-commerce operator)

GSTR-9Annual Return

Consolidated annual return reconciling twelve periods of GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B against books of account, structured into Tables 4 through 19 covering outward and inward supplies, ITC availed, reversed and ineligible, tax paid, demands and refunds, and HSN summary of outward and inward supplies.

Thirty-first of December of the succeeding financial year Common Portal (taxpayer)

GSTR-9CSelf-Certified Reconciliation Statement

Reconciliation between the audited annual financial statements and the consolidated annual return in GSTR-9, applicable where aggregate turnover exceeds five crore rupees; self-certified by the registered person following omission of the Section 35(5) statutory audit by the Finance Act 2021.

Thirty-first of December of the succeeding financial year, alongside GSTR-9 Common Portal (taxpayer, self-certified)

GSTR-10Final Return

Return furnished by a registered person whose registration has been cancelled or surrendered, capturing closing stock on which input tax credit had been claimed and tax payable thereon under Section 29(5).

Three months from the date of cancellation or the date of the cancellation order, whichever is later Common Portal (taxpayer)

IFFInvoice Furnishing Facility

Optional facility under the QRMP scheme permitting a registered person to upload B2B invoice details for the first two months of a quarter so the recipient is able to claim corresponding input tax credit without waiting for the quarterly GSTR-1.

Thirteenth of the second and third month of the quarter for the preceding month Common Portal (QRMP taxpayer)

Statutory Deadlines

Compliance deadlines that matter

Miss any of these and the next consequence kicks in automatically.

Trigger event	Days	Form	Consequence
Tax period closes for a regular monthly filer of outward supplies	11 days	GSTR-1	Section 47 late fee at fifty rupees per day for taxable returns or twenty rupees per day for nil returns attaches from the twelfth, and recipient credit visibility through GSTR-2B is delayed.
Tax period closes for a regular monthly filer of summary return	20 days	GSTR-3B	Section 47 late fee attaches from the twenty-first along with Section 50 interest on the net cash liability computed under Rule 88B.
Quarter closes for a QRMP registered person in a Group-B State including Tamil Nadu	24 days	GSTR-3B (quarterly)	Late fee and interest attach from the twenty-fifth of the month succeeding the quarter, and the next quarter outward supply filing is barred under Rule 59(6).
First month or second month of a quarter closes for a QRMP taxpayer carrying invoice-furnishing-facility transactions	13 days	IFF	Invoices not pushed through IFF roll into the quarterly GSTR-1, delaying the buyer ITC reflection in the corresponding GSTR-2B by up to two months.
GSTR-2B is generated on the common portal for the preceding tax period	14 days	Reconciliation working (internal)	Failure to reconcile against the purchase register before GSTR-3B leads to mismatched credit claims and downstream Section 73 short-payment exposure.
Supplier invoice remains unpaid beyond the second-proviso threshold under Section 16(2)	180 days	GSTR-3B (Table 4(B) reversal)	Input tax credit availed on the unpaid invoice is required to be added back with interest from the date of original availment; recredit follows upon eventual payment.
Financial year closes for a registered person required to furnish the annual return	275 days	GSTR-9	Section 47(2) late fee at two hundred rupees per day combined accrues from 1 January, subject to the cap as per Notification 07/2023-CT.
Financial year closes for a registered person with aggregate turnover above the threshold for reconciliation statement	275 days	GSTR-9C	Section 47(2) late fee attaches in addition to potential scrutiny under Section 61 on the discrepancy between books and returns; no separate fee for non-furnishing of GSTR-9C is prescribed but it is a precondition for closure of the annual filing.
Error or omission discovered in an already-furnished GSTR-1 of an earlier tax period	Up to the due date for furnishing GSTR-3B of November following the end of the financial year or the actual annual-return filing date, whichever is earlier	Amendment in subsequent GSTR-1 / GSTR-1A	Rectification window closes after the cut-off and the error becomes a permanent feature of the annual reconciliation, often surfacing as an ASMT-10 query.
Correction surfaces between furnishing of GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B for the same tax period	Before furnishing GSTR-3B for the corresponding tax period	GSTR-1A	If GSTR-1A is not furnished, the buyer GSTR-2B carries the incorrect entry and a cross-period correction is required next month.

Comparison

GSTR-1 (Outward) vs GSTR-3B (Summary)

Aspect	GSTR-1 (Outward)	GSTR-3B (Summary)
Governing provision	Section 37 of the CGST Act read with Rule 59	Section 39(1) of the CGST Act read with Rule 61(5)
Nature of document	Statement of outward supplies; declaratory and invoice-level	Self-assessment return quantifying net cash liability and ITC set-off
Due date for monthly filer	11th of the succeeding month under Notification 83/2020-Central Tax	20th of the succeeding month; 22nd for Tamil Nadu QRMP under Notification 21/2024
QRMP track availability	Quarterly with monthly Invoice Furnishing Facility for B2B uploads	Quarterly return; monthly PMT-06 cash deposit at fixed sum or self-assessment method
Correction mechanism	Form GSTR-1A within the same period under Notification 12/2024; otherwise amendment tables in the succeeding period	No revision facility; correction routed through Section 39(9) in the next period or DRC-03 voluntary payment
Late fee anchor	Section 47(1) — fifty rupees per day of default capped per Notification 04/2018	Section 47(1) plus Section 50 interest on net cash leg per the proviso operationalised by Notification 16/2021
Judicial rectification space	Madras HC in Sun Dye Chem and several writ orders permitted typographical corrections via subsequent amendment tables	Supreme Court in Union of India v Bharti Airtel limited mid-period correction but preserved Section 39(9) rectification through prospective returns
ITC interaction	Furnishing of GSTR-1 by supplier auto-populates recipient's GSTR-2B; no ITC claim is made through this form	Table 4 is the operative claim point; restricted to GSTR-2B reflection under Section 16(2)(aa) and filtered for Section 17(5) blocks
RCM disclosure	Notified RCM outward entries appear under Table 4B; the recipient does not pay through this form	Recipient declares RCM liability under Table 3.1(d) and discharges through the electronic cash ledger under Section 49(4)
Rule 138E consequence	Non-furnishing does not directly block e-way bill generation under the present Rule 138E framework	Two consecutive months of non-furnishing triggers e-way bill block; restored on furnishing after refresh
Suo motu cancellation exposure	Persistent non-furnishing is one cause among several; rarely the standalone trigger in cancellation orders	Six months of continuous non-furnishing (or three tax periods for composition) is a direct Section 29(2)(c) ground
Evidentiary weight in litigation	Read as declaration of outward turnover; Gujarat HC in Aap and Co v Union of India treated portal disclosures as a transactional record rather than a final assessment	Treated as the self-assessment instrument under Section 59; figures form the platform for any Section 73 or Section 74 demand and the Section 107 pre-deposit base