Goods and Services Tax (GST) combines various indirect taxes into one taxation system, which on the one hand simplifies Indian taxes. On the other, however, GST introduces a host of new compliance. One example is filing GST returns (GSTR).
Because GST is an indirect tax, in simple terms, filing GSTR means submitting a declaration of required details, such as supplies made, supplies received, GST and non-GST expenses incurred, etc., to the government.
The following tables detail GST filing requirements by various dealers.
Regular dealer
| Return form | Particulars | Interval | Due date |
| GSTR-1 | Details of outward supplies of taxable goods and/or services | Monthly | 10th of the next month |
| GSTR-2A | Details of inward supplies. This information will auto-populate based on GSTR-1, filed by the suppliers | Monthly | 11th of the next month |
| GSTR-2 | To claim input tax credit (ITC), submit this form with details of the affected inward supplies of taxable goods and/or services. Submit any modifications or additions in Form GSTR-2A | Monthly | 15th of the next month |
| GSTR-1A | Modifications in the dealer’s outward supplies made by vendors via Form GSTR-2 will be made available to the dealer | ||
| GSTR-3 | Dealers file this along with tax payment with final details of outward supplies and inward supplies as per above | Monthly | 20th of the next month |
| GSTR-9 | Annual return | Annually | 31 December of next financial year |
| GSTR-3B | Provisional return for the months of July and August. It is a simple return only containing gross figures of inward and outward returns | Monthly | 25th of the next month |
To ease the transition process into GST, the government has proposed the following due dates for first-time applications in the months of August and September.
| Forms | For July 2017 | For August 2017 |
| GSTR-3B | 25 August
along with tax payment | 20 September along with tax payment. There is no buyer-seller reconciliation for July and August |
| GSTR-1 | Till 10th Oct. | Not yet announced |
| GSTR-2 | Till 31st Oct. | Not yet announced |
| GSTR-3 | Till 10th Nov. | Not yet announced |
Late fee & penalty
It is mandatory to file returns under GST. Even if a business has no transactions during the month, it will still have to file a nil return. The interest and penalty for late or non-filing of GST returns are as follows:
- Interest is 18 percent per annum, calculated by the taxpayer on the amount of outstanding tax during the time period from the day after filing (26/29 August) to the date of payment
- The late fee is Rs. 100 per day, to a maximum of Rs. 5,000. This will be calculated by the GST Portal
The government has announced that it will not levy any interest or penalty for the first two months after the GST rollout, i.e. August and September.
Dealer under composition scheme
Composition scheme dealers will enjoy fewer returns and compliance requirements, and pay nominal tax rates. A composition dealer will file only two returns.
| Return form | Particulars | Interval | Due date |
| GSTR-4 | Return for compounding taxable person | Quarterly | 18th of the month succeeding the quarter |
| GSTR-9A | Annual return | Annually | 31 December of next financial year |
Other 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 affected through ecommerce 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 |
The government has made the return filing very stringent. Non-compliance or loose compliance will not only attract interest or penalties, but will also affect the GST rating of the dealer, which could then negatively affect the business.
Avalara is an experienced application service provider (ASP) and partner of authorized GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs). To understand how our cloud-based application, Avalara India GST, can help you with GST compliance automation, contact us through https://www.avalara.com/in/products/gst-returns-filing
