A regular GST taxpayer files two recurring returns: GSTR-1 for outward supplies and GSTR-3B for the tax summary and payment, either monthly or quarterly. GSTR-9 is added each year once aggregate turnover exceeds ₹2 crore. Every other type of GST return belongs to a specific kind of registration, such as composition, input service distributor, TDS deductor or non-resident.
The selector below sorts the current types of GST returns by who files them, with the standard due dates shown on the GST portal in September 2026. GSTR-2A and GSTR-2B will also appear on your dashboard. You never file those two.
Key facts on GST returns
Point | Current position |
|---|---|
Main returns for a regular taxpayer | GSTR-1 (outward supplies) and GSTR-3B (summary return and tax payment) |
Monthly due dates | GSTR-1 by the 11th and GSTR-3B by the 20th of the following month |
Quarterly option | QRMP scheme for aggregate turnover up to ₹5 crore; tax is still paid monthly |
Same-period correction | GSTR-1A, available until GSTR-3B for that period is filed |
Annual return | GSTR-9 by 31 December; exempt up to ₹2 crore turnover from FY 2024-25 (Notification No. 15/2025-Central Tax, dated 17 September 2025) |
Time limit | Returns cannot be filed more than three years after their due date (Notification No. 28/2023-Central Tax, dated 31 July 2023) |
Which GST returns does your business file?
Find your registration type in the first column. The forms in that row are the ones you owe, and nothing else in the table applies to you. If you are unsure which category you hold, read our explainer on types of GST registration first.
Turnover in this table means aggregate annual turnover, calculated across every GSTIN (GST Identification Number) on the same PAN (Permanent Account Number).
Your registration | Returns you file | Due date |
|---|---|---|
Regular taxpayer, turnover above ₹5 crore | GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B monthly; GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C annually | GSTR-1 by the 11th, GSTR-3B by the 20th; annual forms by 31 December |
Regular taxpayer, turnover up to ₹5 crore, filing monthly | GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B monthly; GSTR-9 only above ₹2 crore | 11th and 20th of the next month; GSTR-9 by 31 December |
Regular taxpayer in the QRMP scheme | GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B quarterly, optional IFF, PMT-06 challan | GSTR-1 by the 13th after the quarter; GSTR-3B by the 22nd or 24th; IFF by the 13th and PMT-06 by the 25th for months one and two |
Composition taxpayer (Section 10) | CMP-08 quarterly; GSTR-4 annually | CMP-08 by the 18th after the quarter; GSTR-4 by 30 June |
Casual taxable person | GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B | Same dates as a regular taxpayer, for each period of the temporary registration |
Non-resident taxable person | GSTR-5 | 13th of the next month, or within 7 days after registration expires if earlier |
Overseas OIDAR service supplier | GSTR-5A | 20th of the next month |
Input Service Distributor (ISD) | GSTR-6 | 13th of the next month |
Person deducting GST TDS (Section 51) | GSTR-7 | 10th of the next month |
E-commerce operator collecting TCS (Section 52) | GSTR-8 | 10th of the next month |
UIN holder, such as an embassy | GSTR-11 | 28th of the month after the purchases |
Any taxpayer whose registration is cancelled | GSTR-10 (final return), once | Within 3 months of the cancellation date or order, whichever is later |
Principal sending goods to a job worker | ITC-04 | Above ₹5 crore: 25 October and 25 April; up to ₹5 crore: 25 April |
Returns are filed per GSTIN, not per business. A seller registered in four states under one PAN files four sets of GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, and each GSTIN can opt into QRMP separately. Plan for that workload before adding VPOB and APOB arrangements in new states.
Returns, challans and auto-drafted statements are different things
The returns dashboard mixes three kinds of forms. Only the first kind is a return in the legal sense, and only the first two need action from you.
Kind of form | Examples | What you do |
|---|---|---|
Return | GSTR-1, GSTR-1A, GSTR-3B, GSTR-4, GSTR-5, GSTR-5A, GSTR-6, GSTR-7, GSTR-8, GSTR-9, GSTR-10, GSTR-11 | File it, verified with a DSC (Digital Signature Certificate) or EVC (Electronic Verification Code) |
Statement, declaration or challan | CMP-08, PMT-06, ITC-04, GSTR-9C | File or pay it alongside your returns |
Auto-drafted statement | GSTR-2A, GSTR-2B, GSTR-4A, GSTR-6A | Review it; the portal builds it from other people's filings |
Treat the last row as reference data. A gap in GSTR-2B is fixed through supplier follow-up, Invoice Management System (IMS) actions or your own GSTR-3B, because there is nothing to file.
How GSTR-1, GSTR-1A and GSTR-3B work together
GSTR-1 reports your outward supplies invoice by invoice and is due on the 11th of the next month for monthly filers. Your buyers depend on it, because the invoices you report become their input tax credit (ITC) in GSTR-2B.
GSTR-3B is the summary return in which you declare totals, claim ITC and pay the net tax, due on the 20th. According to the GST portal's GSTR-3B FAQ, every normal and casual taxpayer must file it, even for a month with no business.
Since the July 2025 tax period, the outward tax liability that auto-populates in GSTR-3B from GSTR-1, GSTR-1A or the Invoice Furnishing Facility (IFF) cannot be edited, according to a GSTN advisory dated 7 June 2025. A sales error now has to be fixed before GSTR-3B, not inside it.
What GSTR-1A is for
GSTR-1A lets you add a missed invoice, or correct one reported in GSTR-1, for the same tax period. It was introduced by Notification No. 12/2024-Central Tax, dated 10 July 2024. There is no separate due date: the window closes once you file GSTR-3B for that period.
The order you file in
Rule 59(6) of the CGST Rules stops you from filing GSTR-1 while the previous period's GSTR-3B is pending. One missed month therefore blocks the next.
File GSTR-1 two or three days before the 11th, then reconcile it against your books before the 20th. That gap is the only point at which GSTR-1A can still correct the month's outward liability.
Does QRMP change how often you pay GST?
No. The QRMP (Quarterly Return Monthly Payment) scheme changes how often you file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, not how often you pay. Tax for the first two months of each quarter is still deposited through challan PMT-06 by the 25th of the following month.
According to the QRMP FAQ on the GST portal, the scheme is open to taxpayers whose PAN-based aggregate turnover is up to ₹5 crore in the current and preceding financial year, and who have filed their last due GSTR-3B. You opt in or out separately for each GSTIN.
Under QRMP, quarterly GSTR-1 is due on the 13th of the month after the quarter. Quarterly GSTR-3B is due on the 22nd or the 24th, depending on the state of your principal place of business. IFF is optional: it lets you upload B2B invoices for months one and two by the 13th, up to ₹50 lakh a month, so registered buyers get credit without waiting for the quarter.
Hypothetical example: a trader registered in Haryana is in QRMP for July to September 2026. PMT-06 for July is due by 25 August and for August by 25 September. GSTR-1 for the quarter is due by 13 October 2026, and GSTR-3B by 24 October 2026, because Haryana is in the 24th-day group.
If most of your buyers are GST-registered, file IFF every month. Without it, your month-one and month-two invoices reach their GSTR-2B only after the quarter closes.
Annual GST returns for regular and composition taxpayers
GSTR-9 is the annual return for regular taxpayers, due by 31 December after the financial year ends. From FY 2024-25 onwards, a registered person with aggregate turnover up to ₹2 crore is exempt from filing it, under Notification No. 15/2025-Central Tax, dated 17 September 2025.
Above ₹5 crore, you also file GSTR-9C, a self-certified reconciliation statement. Section 44 of the CGST Act keeps ISDs, casual and non-resident taxable persons, and TDS and TCS filers out of GSTR-9 altogether.
Composition taxpayers file neither. They pay tax quarterly through CMP-08 by the 18th of the month after each quarter, and file GSTR-4 once a year by 30 June, the date set for FY 2024-25 onwards by Notification No. 12/2024-Central Tax.
The ₹2 crore exemption removes a filing, not the reconciliation. Match your annual GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B totals to your books before 30 November anyway: according to the GST portal's GSTR-1 FAQ, that is the cut-off for amending previous-year invoices.
Returns for ISDs, TDS deductors, e-commerce operators and non-residents
An Input Service Distributor files GSTR-6 by the 13th of each month to distribute credit on common input services among branches under the same PAN. Government departments and other notified persons who deduct GST TDS under Section 51 file GSTR-7 by the 10th.
E-commerce operators file GSTR-8 by the 10th, reporting the TCS (tax collected at source) they collected under Section 52. Sellers do not file GSTR-8. You report marketplace sales in Table 14 of your own GSTR-1, and the operator's TCS appears as a credit on your portal, so e-commerce GST return filing is mostly a reconciliation job.
A non-resident taxable person files GSTR-5 by the 13th of the following month, or within 7 days after the registration expires if that comes first. Overseas suppliers of online information and database access or retrieval (OIDAR) services file GSTR-5A by the 20th. Embassies and other Unique Identity Number (UIN) holders claiming refunds file GSTR-11 by the 28th of the month after their purchases.
Do I file GSTR-2A or GSTR-2B?
Neither. GSTR-2A and GSTR-2B are auto-drafted statements of your inward supplies, and the GST portal's GSTR-2B FAQ describes GSTR-2B as a read-only static statement that you do not file. What you file is GSTR-3B, using GSTR-2B as the basis for the ITC you claim.
Point | GSTR-2A | GSTR-2B | GSTR-1A |
|---|---|---|---|
Who prepares it | Portal, from suppliers' filings | Portal, from suppliers' filings and import data | You |
Does it change? | Yes, as suppliers file or amend | No, fixed once generated; recompute after IMS action | Open until you file GSTR-3B |
Used for | Tracking supplier filings | ITC claimed in GSTR-3B | Correcting your own GSTR-1 |
Filed by you? | No | No | Yes, optional |
GSTR-2B is generated on the 14th of the following month for monthly filers, and on the 14th after the quarter for QRMP filers. In IMS you accept, reject or keep supplier records pending. If you act after the 14th, recompute GSTR-2B before filing GSTR-3B.
DRC-01B and DRC-01C are mismatch notices, not returns
DRC-01B and DRC-01C are system intimations you reply to, not returns you file on a schedule. DRC-01B, under Rule 88C, flags liability in GSTR-1 or IFF that is higher than the tax paid in GSTR-3B. DRC-01C, under Rule 88D, flags ITC claimed in GSTR-3B that exceeds what GSTR-2B shows.
Both are issued only when the difference crosses a threshold set in the rules. Reply in Part B with payment or an explanation, because an unanswered intimation blocks your next GSTR-1 or IFF under Rule 59(6).
GSTR-10 and ITC-04 are triggered by events
GSTR-10, the final return, is filed once after a registration is cancelled or surrendered. According to the GST portal's GSTR-10 FAQ, it is due within three months of the cancellation date or the cancellation order, whichever is later, and it declares closing stock and the ITC to be reversed on it.
ITC-04 applies only if you send inputs or capital goods to a job worker. Businesses above ₹5 crore turnover file it half-yearly, by 25 October and 25 April. Businesses up to ₹5 crore file it once a year, by 25 April.
GST return due dates and extensions
The due dates in the selector are the standard dates. The government changes a specific date only by notification, so treat the listed date as your deadline, even when it falls on a Sunday or holiday, until an extension is notified.
There is also a hard stop. Amendments made by the Finance Act, 2023, brought into force by Notification No. 28/2023-Central Tax dated 31 July 2023, bar GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, GSTR-4, GSTR-5, GSTR-5A, GSTR-6, GSTR-7, GSTR-8 and GSTR-9 from being filed three years after their due date. The GST portal now enforces this bar.
If any period from 2023 is still unfiled, deal with it this quarter. The bar removes your ability to file the return, not the tax owed for that period.
Records to have ready before each filing cycle
A clean cycle starts from your own data, matched against what the portal already holds. Work through these in order each month or quarter:
Export the sales register and e-invoice (IRN) data, and match both to the draft GSTR-1.
Record credit notes and debit notes in the period they are issued.
Act on supplier records in IMS, then download GSTR-2B after the 14th.
Match GSTR-2B to your purchase register and exclude blocked credit under Section 17(5).
Add reverse charge purchases, which you report and pay tax on yourself.
Reconcile marketplace TCS reports with your GSTR-1 Table 14 figures.
Save PMT-06 challans and the ARN (acknowledgement reference number) of every filed return.
Need a filing calendar built around each of your GSTINs? Talk to Ankush's team about GST return filing services at ComplyLocal →
