All You Needed to Know About Types of GST Returns and Their Due Dates

Much has been written about over explaining the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and what it means for businesses. Even after all these many entrepreneurs remain largely clueless about the “Good and Simple Tax’ as called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. So here’s all about the types of GST returns and their due dates. Under GST Laws, a taxpayer is required to estimate his or her tax liability on “self-assessment” basis.

The tax payer then deposits the tax amount along with or before the tax filing. The return therefore constitutes a kind of worksheet or supporting documents for the tax authorities that can be relied upon as the basis on which the tax has been computed by taxpayer. Under GST regime, filing of returns not only determines the tax liability of the person filing the same, but also has a huge bearing on determination of tax liability of the other person with whom the former has entered into taxable activities. Under GST, there is no provision to revise the GST Return. Hence, assessees need to file GST Returns with utmost care.

Types of GST Returns and their Due Date

Return Forms	Details of Return	Liability to File	Due Date of Filing Return
GSTR-1	Details of Outward Supplies	Registered Person	10th of subsequent month
GSTR-2	Details of Inward Supplies	Registered Person	15th of subsequent month
GSTR-3	Finalisation of Inward and outward supplies and payment of tax	Registered Person	20th of subsequent month
GSTR-4	Outward supplies and tax thereon in case of composition scheme	Taxable person opting for Composition Levy	18th of the month succeeding the quarter end
GSTR-5	Outward supplies, imports, tax paid, input tax availed and remaining stock by Non Resident taxpayer	Non- Resident taxpayer	20th of the month succeeding the tax period or within 7 days after expiry of registration, whichever is earlier
GSTR-6	Details of ITC and their distribution	Input Service Distributor	13th of subsequent month
GSTR-7	Details of tax deduction made during the month	Tax Deductor	10th of subsequent month
GSTR-8	Details of supplies and tax collected	E-Commerce Operator	10th of subsequent month
GSTR-9	Annual return	Registered person other than an ISD, TDS/TCS Taxpayer, Casual Taxable Person and Non- resident Taxpayer	31st December of the next Financial year
GSTR-10	Final Return	Taxable Person whose registration has been surrendered or cancelled	Within 3 months of date of cancellation or date of cancellation order whichever is later.

The basic features of the return mechanism in GST include electronic filing of returns, uploading of invoice level information and auto population of information relating to Input Tax Credit (ITC) from returns of supplier to that of recipient, invoice-level information matching, and auto-reversal of ITC in case of mismatch. The returns mechanism is designed to assist the taxpayer to file returns and avail ITC. Monitor the deadlines for various types of GST returns and ensure you file them on time. Better still, consult a tax practitioner to do it efficiently and in a timely way.