List Of GST Returns: What Founders Must File, And When

Key Takeaways

• There are 22 GST return forms notified under GST law, but practically 11–12 are actively filed depending on your business type.
• The two returns every regular taxpayer must file are GSTR-1 (outward supplies) and GSTR-3B (summary return, tax payment).
• Businesses with turnover above ₹5 crore file monthly, those at or below ₹5 crore can opt for the QRMP scheme — quarterly GSTR-1, quarterly GSTR-3B, monthly tax payment.
• Missing deadlines costs ₹50 per day (₹20 per day for nil returns), capped at ₹10,000 per return.
• GSTR-9 (annual return) is mandatory above ₹2 crore turnover, GSTR-9C (reconciliation statement) kicks in above ₹5 crore.
• GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 were notified but never operationalised, suspended since 2017.

The Complete List Of GST Returns At A Glance

The complete list of GST returns in India covers 22 notified forms, but your business likely needs to worry about 3 to 5 of them. This post maps every form, who files it, when it is due, and what happens if you miss the deadline. No filler. Just the facts you need to run a clean compliance calendar.

Here is the master table of GST return forms, their filers, frequency, and purpose. Use this as your quick-reference index before diving into the detail below.

Important: GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 were notified under GST law but suspended indefinitely since October 2017. GSTR-2A is a read-only auto-populated document, not a return you file. GSTR-9B was notified for e-commerce operators but never implemented.

Types Of GST Returns — Categorised By Business Type

Regular Taxpayer (Most Businesses, Any Turnover Above Threshold): Files GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, and GSTR-9 annually. If turnover is at or below ₹5 crore, can opt for the QRMP scheme for reduced filing frequency.

Composition Dealer (Goods: Turnover Up To ₹1.5 Crore, Services: Up To ₹50 Lakh): Files CMP-08 quarterly and GSTR-4 annually. Cannot issue tax invoices, cannot claim ITC, cannot sell through e-commerce platforms, Section 10(2) restriction. GSTR-9A is the annual return equivalent.

E-Commerce Operator (Platforms): Files GSTR-8 monthly, this is the TCS statement under Section 52. The sellers listed on these platforms file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B as regular taxpayers.

Input Service Distributor (ISD): A head office that receives services and distributes ITC to branches. Files GSTR-6 monthly.

GST TDS Deductor (Government Departments, Local Authorities, Notified PSUs Under Section 51): Files GSTR-7 monthly. Deduction applies to contracts above ₹2.5 lakh.

Non-Resident Taxable Person (NRTP): An overseas business making taxable supplies in India on a temporary basis. Registers before first supply, registration valid for a maximum of 90 days, extendable. Files GSTR-5 monthly.

OIDAR Provider (Overseas Digital Services Sold B2C In India): Streaming platforms and overseas SaaS selling to Indian consumers. Files GSTR-5A monthly.

UIN Holder (Foreign Embassies, UN Agencies): These entities do not pay GST but claim refunds on purchases made in India. Files GSTR-11 as and when a refund is claimed.

GST Return Types And Due Dates — The Full Calendar

Monthly Filers (Turnover Above ₹5 Crore Or Opted Out Of QRMP)

Example: June supplies, GSTR-1 due 11 July, GSTR-3B due 20 July.

Quarterly Filers — QRMP Scheme (Turnover At Or Below ₹5 Crore)

Quarter-end dates: Q1, Apr–Jun, July; Q2, Jul–Sep, October; Q3, Oct–Dec, January; Q4, Jan–Mar, April.

Category 1 states, 22nd deadline: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and others in south and west India.

Category 2 states, 24th deadline: Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, all north-eastern states, J&K, Ladakh, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Composition Dealers

Annual Returns

GSTR-9 for FY 2023–24 is due 31 December 2024.

(Source: gst.gov.in)

GSTR-1 And GSTR-3B Explained — How They Work Together

GSTR-1 is a disclosure document. You upload every outward invoice, B2B, B2C, credit notes, debit notes, invoice by invoice. No tax is paid here. The point of GSTR-1 is transparency, your buyer's GSTR-2B is populated from your GSTR-1. If you do not file GSTR-1, your buyer cannot see your invoices in their GSTR-2B and cannot claim ITC on purchases from you. That is a business relationship problem, not just a compliance one.

GSTR-3B is where you actually pay tax. It is a self-assessed summary return where you declare total outward supplies, ITC available, pulled from GSTR-2B, and net GST payable. Tax is discharged here, not in GSTR-1.

The sequence is enforced by the GSTN portal. Since January 2022, you cannot file GSTR-3B without first filing GSTR-1 for the same period. File GSTR-1 first, always.

GSTR-1A introduced in 2024 adds a correction layer. After your buyer reviews your GSTR-1 data in their GSTR-2B and flags discrepancies, you can use GSTR-1A to amend your GSTR-1 entries, but only before you file GSTR-3B for that period. Once GSTR-3B is filed, this window closes.

GSTR-2B is the buyer's side of the equation. It is a static, auto-generated ITC statement locked on the 14th of each month for the previous month's supplies. Under Rule 36(4), ITC can only be claimed on invoices appearing in GSTR-2B, the earlier 105% provisional claim rule was withdrawn from January 2022. If you claim ITC in GSTR-3B that does not appear in GSTR-2B, expect a Show Cause Notice and an 18% interest demand.

Concrete example: A Bengaluru SaaS company sells ₹10 lakh worth of services in June. They upload all invoices to GSTR-1 by 11 July. Their B2B client in Pune sees those invoices in GSTR-2B on 14 July. The Bengaluru company then pays tax and files GSTR-3B by 20 July. The Pune client claims ITC in their own GSTR-3B using the same 20 July deadline.

The QRMP Scheme — Quarterly Filing Option For Smaller Businesses

The Quarterly Return Monthly Payment, QRMP scheme, introduced 1 January 2021, is designed for regular taxpayers with aggregate annual turnover at or below ₹5 crore. If you qualify and have not opted in, you may be filing 24 returns a year when you only need to file 8.

What QRMP reduces: GSTR-1 drops from 12 filings to 4. GSTR-3B drops from 12 to 4. But tax payment remains monthly, via PMT-06 challan by the 25th of each month for the first two months of each quarter.

Net compliance actions under QRMP: 4 GSTR-1 filings + 4 GSTR-3B filings + 8 PMT-06 challans = 16 actions, versus 24 full returns under the monthly scheme.

How to opt in: Done on the GSTN portal. The opt-in window for Q2, July to September, for example, is 1 May to 31 July. Check the portal for each quarter's window.

IFF — Invoice Furnishing Facility: This is an optional tool under QRMP. For the first two months of each quarter, you can upload specific B2B invoices via IFF so your buyers can see them in GSTR-2B without waiting for the quarter-end GSTR-1. Limit: invoices up to ₹50 lakh per month per IFF filing. If your buyers are large enterprises with tight cash flow and monthly ITC requirements, IFF keeps the relationship clean.

Tax payment for months 1 and 2: Either compute self-assessed tax and pay via PMT-06 by the 25th, or use the 35% fixed sum option, pay 35% of the tax paid in the last full quarter, no calculation required.

• Good fit: B2C businesses, e-commerce sellers, retail, F&B, service providers with a small invoice volume, businesses where buyers are consumers rather than GST-registered entities.
• Poor fit: B2B businesses where large enterprise clients need monthly ITC credits, businesses with turnover approaching ₹5 crore, crossing mid-year forces an automatic switch back to monthly filing.

Annual GST Returns — GSTR-9, GSTR-9A, And GSTR-9C

GSTR-9 — Annual Return For Regular Taxpayers

Mandatory for all regular taxpayers with aggregate turnover above ₹2 crore. Optional, with CBIC waiver for FY 2023–24 and prior years, for taxpayers below ₹2 crore, though waiving it means losing a documented annual audit trail, which is a risk worth considering.

GSTR-9 consolidates everything you filed in GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B across the full financial year: outward supplies, inward supplies, ITC claimed, tax paid, any outstanding demands or refunds. Due date: 31 December following the financial year.

Late fee: ₹200 per day, ₹100 CGST + ₹100 SGST, capped at 0.25% of turnover in the state or UT for that FY. For a Mumbai D2C brand with ₹20 crore turnover, that cap can reach ₹5 lakh, this is not a trivial penalty.

GSTR-9A — Annual Return For Composition Dealers

Filed instead of GSTR-9 by composition taxpayers. Summarises all CMP-08 quarterly payments and GSTR-4 data for the full year. Due: 31 December.

GSTR-9C — Reconciliation Statement

Required for taxpayers with aggregate turnover above ₹5 crore. Since FY 2020–21, this is self-certified by the taxpayer, CA certification is no longer required, though most founders still use their CA to prepare it, and rightly so.

GSTR-9C reconciles your GSTR-9 figures against your audited financial statements: turnover as per books versus turnover as per GST returns, ITC as per books versus GSTR-2B, tax paid versus tax liability per financials. Discrepancies, even 5 to 10% variance in turnover figures, have triggered GST audit proceedings under Section 65. Do not treat self-certification as a rubber stamp.

Practical note: GSTR-9 for a given FY is typically filed in October to December of the next year. That means you are reconciling 12 to 18 months of data at once. A Delhi consulting firm that skips monthly reconciliation is going to spend three painful weeks in November untangling GSTR-1 vs. GSTR-3B vs. books discrepancies. Do the reconciliation monthly. Your December self will thank you.

Late Fees, Penalties, And Consequences Of Missing GST Return Deadlines

Missing a GST return deadline is not just a financial cost. It can freeze operations and damage supplier relationships. Here is the full picture.

Late Fee Structure

Interest On Late Tax Payment

• 18% per annum on net tax liability, after ITC, calculated from the day after the due date to the actual payment date.
• 24% per annum on excess ITC wrongly claimed under Section 50(3), applies when you claim ITC that does not appear in GSTR-2B.

Operational Consequences

E-way bill blocking: If GSTR-3B is not filed for two consecutive months, monthly filers, or two consecutive quarters, quarterly filers, the GSTN system automatically blocks e-way bill generation. For a manufacturer or distributor moving goods across state lines, this effectively halts business.

Buyer ITC reversal: If you have not filed GSTR-3B, your buyers' ITC on invoices from you can be blocked or reversed. Your buyers will call. It is not a pleasant conversation.

Registration cancellation: Under Section 29(2), a GST officer can cancel your registration if returns are not filed for six consecutive months, monthly filers, or three consecutive quarters, quarterly filers. Reinstatement requires filing all pending returns plus late fees, and the process takes time your business cannot afford to lose.

Best practice: Set hard calendar reminders for the 10th, 11th, and 20th of every month. A single missed GSTR-3B costs ₹50 per day and risks your buyers' ITC, a cost that compounds fast.

Discontinued, Suspended, And Read-Only GST Forms — What Founders Should Know

GSTR-2, Inward Supplies Return: Notified under the GST Act but suspended indefinitely since October 2017. Never operationalised. It was meant to allow buyers to amend or accept invoices uploaded by sellers. Its function has been replaced by the auto-drafted GSTR-2B.

GSTR-3, Combined Monthly Return: Also suspended. Was designed to auto-populate after GSTR-1 and GSTR-2 were filed and reconciled. Never implemented.

GSTR-2A vs GSTR-2B — the distinction matters:

• GSTR-2A is a dynamic, continuously updating document. Every time a supplier files GSTR-1, your GSTR-2A updates in real time. It is read-only and used for tracking, not for ITC claims.
• GSTR-2B is static. It locks on the 14th of each month and does not change after that. Under Rule 36(4), only GSTR-2B is used to determine ITC eligibility. If an invoice appears in GSTR-2A but not in GSTR-2B, because the supplier filed late, you cannot claim ITC on it in the current month.

GSTR-9B: Notified for e-commerce operators. Never implemented.

GSTR-4, old format: Previously a quarterly return for composition dealers. Converted to annual from FY 2019–20, with CMP-08 introduced as the quarterly tax payment mechanism.

ITC-04: This one catches manufacturing founders off-guard. ITC-04 is the form for reporting goods sent to or received from a job worker. Filing frequency: quarterly for businesses with turnover above ₹5 crore, annual for others. If your business sends raw materials to a third-party processor and you have never filed ITC-04, check your compliance status immediately.

Practical Filing Sequence — What To File First And In What Order

Monthly Filers — The Standard Sequence

Step 1 — By 11th: File GSTR-1. Upload every outward invoice for the previous month. B2B invoices, B2C aggregate, credit notes, debit notes. This populates your buyers' GSTR-2B.

Step 2 — By 13th: Review your own GSTR-2B. It is auto-generated. Match it against your purchase register. Flag any invoices in your books that do not appear in GSTR-2B, you cannot claim ITC on those this month.

Step 3 — By 13th, ISD only: File GSTR-6 to distribute ITC to branches.

Step 4 — By 20th: File GSTR-3B. Declare ITC from GSTR-2B, offset against outward tax liability, pay net tax due. This is when money moves.

Ongoing: Reconcile GSTR-2B against your books every month. Do not push this to December.

Quarterly Filers — QRMP Sequence

Month 1 and Month 2 of each quarter:

• By 13th: File IFF, optional but recommended for B2B operations
• By 25th: Pay tax via PMT-06 challan

Month 3, quarter-end month, following month:

• By 13th: File GSTR-1, quarterly
• By 22nd or 24th, state-dependent: File GSTR-3B, quarterly

Annual Sequence

1. Confirm all 12 monthly or 4 quarterly GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filings are complete.
2. Reconcile GSTR-1 data, total outward supplies reported, against books of accounts, check for any invoices missed or excess reported.
3. Reconcile GSTR-2B ITC claimed across all GSTR-3B filings against actual purchase register and books.
4. File GSTR-9 by 31 December.
5. If turnover exceeds ₹5 crore, file GSTR-9C by 31 December, same deadline.

For founders who prefer not to manage this compliance sequence manually, services like Virtual Accounting by AI Accountant handle the full GST calendar, from GSTR-1 to GSTR-9C, as part of a monthly CA-as-a-Service engagement starting at ₹4,000 per month.

Managing 12 to 24 GST filings a year, reconciling GSTR-2B monthly, and filing GSTR-9C accurately requires a consistent process that most founding teams do not have the bandwidth to maintain in-house. Virtual Accounting by AI Accountant gives Indian founders a dedicated CA team to handle the entire GST compliance calendar, from GSTR-1 to GSTR-9C, starting at ₹4,000 per month. Explore the service →

Frequently Asked Questions — List Of GST Returns

How Many GST Returns Are There In India?

22 return forms are notified under GST law. Practically, 11 to 12 are actively filed. Most regular businesses file GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, and GSTR-9 annually, three forms, 25 total filings across a year if you file monthly.

Which GST Return Is Filed Monthly?

GSTR-3B for regular taxpayers above ₹5 crore turnover or monthly filers, GSTR-1 for monthly filers, GSTR-5 for NRTPs, GSTR-5A for OIDAR providers, GSTR-6 for ISDs, GSTR-7 for TDS deductors, and GSTR-8 for e-commerce operators are all monthly filings.

Is GSTR-9 Mandatory For All Businesses?

No. GSTR-9 is mandatory only for businesses with aggregate annual turnover above ₹2 crore. CBIC has waived mandatory filing for taxpayers below ₹2 crore for FY 2023–24 and several prior years, but the waiver must be confirmed each year via official notification.

What Is The Penalty For Not Filing GSTR-1?

₹50 per day, ₹25 CGST + ₹25 SGST, for returns with liability, ₹20 per day for nil returns, capped at ₹10,000 per return. Beyond the monetary penalty, non-filing of GSTR-1 blocks your buyers from claiming ITC on invoices from you, which creates immediate commercial pressure.

Can A Composition Dealer File GSTR-1?

No. Composition dealers cannot issue tax invoices and therefore do not file GSTR-1. They file CMP-08 quarterly, tax payment challan, and GSTR-4 annually. They cannot claim ITC and cannot make inter-state supplies.

What Is The Difference Between GSTR-2A And GSTR-2B?

GSTR-2A is dynamic, it updates in real time whenever any supplier files their GSTR-1. GSTR-2B is static, it locks on the 14th of each month and does not change after that. Under Rule 36(4), only GSTR-2B determines ITC eligibility. An invoice appearing in GSTR-2A but not in GSTR-2B, because the supplier filed after the 14th, cannot be claimed in the current month.

Who Needs To File GSTR-9C?

Any regular taxpayer with aggregate annual turnover above ₹5 crore must file GSTR-9C, a self-certified reconciliation statement matching GSTR-9 data against audited financial statements. Due date is 31 December, same as GSTR-9. Since FY 2020–21, CA certification is no longer required, but the reconciliation must be accurate, discrepancies trigger GST audit proceedings.

What Is CMP-08 And Who Files It?

CMP-08 is a statement-cum-challan filed by composition scheme taxpayers every quarter to pay self-assessed GST. It is not a full return but functions as the quarterly tax payment mechanism for composition dealers. Due date: 18th of the month following each quarter, 18 July, 18 October, 18 January, 18 April.

What Happens If GSTR-3B Is Not Filed For Several Months?

Three escalating consequences: first, late fees accumulate at ₹50 per day, capped at ₹10,000 per return. Second, e-way bill generation is blocked after two consecutive missed months for monthly filers. Third, GST registration can be cancelled under Section 29(2) after six consecutive missed months, requiring full arrear clearance before reinstatement.

What Is The QRMP Scheme And Who Qualifies?

QRMP stands for Quarterly Return Monthly Payment. It is available to regular GST taxpayers with aggregate annual turnover at or below ₹5 crore. Under QRMP, GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B are filed quarterly, 4 times a year instead of 12, but tax must still be paid monthly via PMT-06 challan for the first two months of each quarter. The scheme reduces total filing actions from 24 to 16 per year.