GST Returns Filing — GSTR-1, GSTR-3B

Every registered taxable person must furnish returns under Section 39 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The return framework comprises:

• GSTR-1 (outward supplies): monthly by the 11th for large taxpayers; quarterly by the 13th for QRMP (Quarterly Return, Monthly Payment) filers, per Rule 59.


• GSTR-3B (summary return + tax payment): monthly by the 20th, or quarterly for QRMP filers, per Rule 61.


• GSTR-9 (annual return): due 31 December of the following financial year, per Section 44 and Rule 80 — mandatory for turnover above ₹2 crore, optional below.


• GSTR-9C (reconciliation statement): mandatory for taxpayers with turnover above ₹5 crore.

Late fee under Section 47: ₹50/day (₹25 CGST + ₹25 SGST) for regular returns; ₹200/day for NIL returns. Maximum late fee capped by notification at between ₹2,000 and ₹10,000 depending on turnover.

Interest under Section 50: 18% per annum on unpaid tax; 24% per annum on wrongfully availed and utilised input tax credit.

ITC reconciliation: the auto-populated GSTR-2B (inward supplies statement) must be reconciled with purchase records to ensure input tax credit claims are valid before GSTR-3B is filed, per Rule 36(4).

GST returns filing is the complete reporting cycle of a registered business — GSTR-1 for the outward supplies under Section 37 of the CGST Act 2017, GSTR-3B for the monthly summary and the payment under Section 39, and the GSTR-2B-based reconciliation of the credit under Section 38. Together they are the business's declared tax position, and they are the records the department reads first — in the scrutiny under Section 61, in the audit under Section 65, and in any notice that follows.

The returns are where the business's GST story is written. The invoices the business issued, the credit it claimed, the tax it paid — every element appears in the returns, and every difference between the returns and the underlying records is a future question. The businesses that file from the records find the returns are a summary; those that file the forms find the records catch up with them later.

The cost of careless returns is the accumulated exposure: the late fee under Section 47, the interest under Section 50, the credit claimed without the matching record, and the mismatches between the GSTR-1 and the GSTR-2B of the buyers that surface as notices. The return is the cheapest place to be right — the correction later is an order of magnitude more expensive.

This service is for registered businesses that want the return cycle run properly. We prepare and file the GSTR-1 under Section 37, the GSTR-3B under Section 39, reconcile the credit with the GSTR-2B, manage the payments and the late-fee positions, and review each period's position so the returns reflect the records and the records survive the scrutiny.