GSTR 9 - Annual Return, Meaning, Due Date, Format, Filing Status

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What is GSTR 9?

As per the CGST Act, every registered taxpayer has to file an annual return, GSTR-9, once for each financial year. In GSTR-9, they are required to furnish the details relating to:

Purchases
Sales
Input Tax Credit
Refund Claimed

Section 44(1) of the CGST Act of 2017 mandates that taxpayers have to file an annual return for every fiscal year. Read on to know all about GSTR 9 annual return form, and you can file one.

Types of GSTR-9

Rule 80 of the Central GST Rules, 2017 lists four types of GSTR-9 forms. The following are the types of taxpayers who are required to file these forms:

GSTR-9: Registered taxpayers who file GSTR-1, GSTR-2, GSTR-3, and GSTR 3B
GSTR-9A: Dealers registered under the Composition Scheme of the GST law
GSTR-9B: E-commerce dealers, including individuals who collect tax at source and have filed GSTR-8
GSTR-9C: GSTR-9C is an audit form that has to be filed by all taxpayers with a turnover exceeding ₹2 Crores in a financial year

Who Should File GSTR 9

GSTR-9 has to be filed by the following individuals/entities:

All taxpayers registered under the CGST Act, 2017
SEZ (Special Economic Zone) units and developers
Online Information Database Access and Retrieval (OIDAR) service providers
Taxpayers who have opted out of the Composition Scheme of GST.

Note: Filing of GSTR-9 is optional for businesses with an annual turnover of up to ₹2 Crores.

GSTR 9 Due Date

The annual return GSTR 9 due date is 31st December of following the relevant financial year.

What is the GSTR 9 Format?

The GSTR-9 format is made up of 6 parts that are further divided into 19 sections. Read on to know how you can effectively fill in the necessary information in the different sections of the form.

Part 1: In this part, you must include all the information related to the GSTIN number, legal names, trade names, and details on the taxable goods and services.
Part 2: This part includes the details regarding the inward and outward supplies that have been declared in a given financial year. This data can be sourced from GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B.
Part 3: In this part, you must include details of the Input Tax Credits that have been filed in the returns during the financial year. View GSTR-2A for this data.
Part 4: It should feature tax-specific data for a given financial year.
Part 5: This part is to be filed with details about the transactions of the previous financial year declared in the current financial year.
Part 6: Here, you must include information about the HSN summary, GST demands, late fees, and refunds.

How to File GSTR 9 Online

As mentioned, the annual return GSTR-9 is a comprehensive form containing 6 parts and 19 sections. Let us look in detail at how each part and section has to be filled.

Part 1

In the first part of the form, you will need to add your basic details, such as:

Section 1: The financial year for which you are filing GSTR-9
Section 2: GSTIN
Section 3A: Legal name
Section 3B: Trade name

Part 2

In the second part, you are required to provide details of the transactions related to the outward and inward supplies in two different sections. These sections are:

Section 4: Here, you need to enter the taxable value, CGST, IGST, SGST and cess payable on advances, purchases, and sales supplies
Section 5: In this section, you are required to add details about the sales on which tax is not payable

Part 3

This part has three sections that inquire about your ITC balance. The details on these sections are given below:

Section 6: This section must contain the details of the Input Tax Credit availed during a financial year that are filed in the return
Section 7: Here, you are required to fill in the information about reversed and ineligible Input Tax Credit (ITC)
Section 8: This section would require you to provide other ITC-related details

Part 4

Part of the GSTR-9 form contains just one section:

Section 9: This section must provide the details of all the taxes paid and declared in returns in a financial year

Part 5

Part 5 has four sections detailing all the transactions carried out during a financial year. These sections are:

Sections 10 & 11: The supplies or tax declared through amendments
Section 12: The reversal of ITC availed during the previous financial year
Section 13: The ITC availed for the previous financial year

After entering details into these sections, you will be required to add differential tax payable value for CGST, IGST, SGST, cess, and interest value.

Part 6

Part 6 of the GSTR-9 form collects information in the following sections:

Section 15: This section must contain details pertaining to demands and refunds
Section 16: In this section, you will be required to add details about the supplies received from composition taxpayers, deemed supplies, and goods sent on an approval basis
Sections 17 & 18: These sections must contain HSN-wise information about sales and purchases, respectively
Section 19: In this section, you must provide details about the payable late fees

How to Check GSTR-9 Filing Status

You may easily check the filing status of your GSTR 9 online on the GSTN portal by following the steps mentioned below:

Step 1: Visit the official GSTN portal and log in with your credentials
Step 2: Hover your cursor over the “Services” menu on the top of the screen and select the “Returns” option
Step 3: Now, enter your ARN (Acknowledgement Reference Number) or the return filing period in the search box and click on “Search”
Step 4: You will now be able to see the status of your GSTR-9.

There are four types of possible statuses for your GSTR-9:

To Be Filed
Submitted But Not Filed
Filed-Valid
Filed-Invalid

GSTR 9 Late Fees and Penalty

In case you are unable to file your GSTR-9 by the due date, you are liable to pay a penalty of ₹100 per day as per the GST Act, 2017, subject to a maximum of 0.25% of the total turnover of the business. Note that there is no late fee for the IGST yet.