At regular intervals taxpayer furnish returns and statements to the tax administrator. Filing of the return constitutes one of the most important compliance procedures. It enables the Tax administrator to estimate the tax collection for a particular period and determine the correctness and completeness of the tax compliance. The annual return for GST is to be filled electronically in Form GSTR 9 through GST Portal.
GSTR 9 : Meaning
GSTR-9 is the Annual Return that a registered taxpayer under GST needs to file once for each financial year on the GST Portal. It comprises of details of sales, purchases, input tax credit, demand and refund.
Who should file GSTR 9?
All registered persons are required to file a GST annual Return. However, the following persons are not required to file a GST annual return:
- Casual taxable persons
- Non-resident taxable person
- Input Service distributors
- Taxpayers registered under composition scheme
- Persons required to deduct tax at source
- E-Commerce Operator or TCS Collector i.e. persons required to collect tax at source
GSTR 9 Due Date
The GSTR 9 due date is 31st December of the next financial year. The Commissioner/ Commissioner of the State GST/ Commissioner of UTGST can extend the due date for a class of taxable persons by way of notification.
GSTR 9 Late Filing Fees
If the taxpayer does not file GSTR 9 on or before the due date, he is liable to pay a Late Fee of Rs.200 (CGST Rs.100 and SGST Rs.100) for each day of delay. The maximum late fees is caped at 0.25% of the turnover of the registered person.
GSTR 9 Format
Following basic details of the taxpayer are auto-populated:
- Financial Year – Select the financial year for which the taxpayer files the return
- GSTIN i.e. GST Identification Number of the taxpayer
- Legal Name and Trade Name of the business
Following details are auto-filled based on the GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filed during the financial year:
- Sales including exports on which tax is payable
- Purchases on which tax is payable under reverse charge mechanism
- Advances on which tax is payable
- Credit Note or Debit Note issued for the above cases
- Sales including exports on which tax is not payable
- Input Tax Credit on purchases availed during the financial year by filing GSTR-3B
- Input Tax Credit reversed and the ineligible input tax credit for the financial year
The following information cannot be edited by the taxpayer. Thus, the taxpayer can only review this information.
- ITC i.e. Input Tax Credit details auto-filled based on the details auto-populated in Form GSTR-2A
- Details of tax paid in the returns filed during the financial year
Other required information:
- Details of transactions of the previous financial year reported in the next financial year
- The details of demands paid and refunds claimed during the financial year
- Goods received from composition dealers, job worker and from person to whom goods were sent on an approval basis
- HSN Summary of Sales
- HSN Summary of Purchases
FAQs
A taxpayer who has an Active GSTIN during the financial year even for a single day must file the GST annual return. Thus, even if the registration is cancelled, the taxpayer must file annual return i.e. GSTR 9 or GSTR 9A
A taxpayer can file Nil GSTR 9 if:
1. There are no outward supplies i.e. sales
2. There are no inward supplies i.e. purchases
3. The taxpayer does not claim any refund
4. The taxpayer does not claim any input tax credit
5. There is no liability to be reported
6. There is no outstanding demand
7. No late fee payable