Filing the Annual Return, GSTR-9

Published 11 October 2026

Most of GSTR-9 is already filled in when the filer opens it. The portal builds it from the year’s GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, and some of those figures cannot be changed. The difficulty lies in the rest. Each table has to be checked against the books. Each financial year has its own list of optional tables. And filing the return early closes several correction windows that would otherwise run until 30 November.

The law is explained in The Annual Return and Reconciliation Statement. This guide covers the procedure: who files GSTR-9 for which year, what goes into each table, and what the portal does at each step. The reconciliation statement, GSTR-9C, has its own guide: Filing the Reconciliation Statement, GSTR-9C.

Who files, year by year

Section 44(1) requires an annual return from every registered person except five classes:

Input Service Distributors
persons deducting tax under section 51
persons collecting tax under section 52
casual taxable persons
non-resident taxable persons

Its second proviso also excludes Government departments and local authorities whose accounts are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General or a local-fund auditor. Rule 80(1) prescribes FORM GSTR-9.

The first proviso lets the Commissioner exempt a class of persons by notification. It has been used every year for smaller taxpayers:

Financial year	Notification	Effect for aggregate turnover up to Rs 2 crore
2017-18, 2018-19	47/2019-Central Tax	Filing optional; an unfiled return is “deemed to be furnished on the due date”
2019-20	77/2020-Central Tax (amending 47/2019)	Same
2020-21	31/2021-Central Tax	Exempt
2021-22	10/2022-Central Tax	Exempt
2022-23	32/2023-Central Tax	Exempt
2023-24	14/2024-Central Tax	Exempt
2024-25 onwards	15/2025-Central Tax	Standing exemption “in any financial year”

The test is aggregate turnover, defined in section 2(6) on an all-India basis for all registrations under the same PAN. A business with two registrations and a combined turnover above Rs 2 crore files GSTR-9 for each GSTIN, even if one of them has a small turnover. The portal’s GSTR-9 FAQ confirms that the return is filed GSTIN by GSTIN.

Three other classes are dealt with separately:

OIDAR suppliers. Persons registered under rule 14 to supply online information and database access or retrieval services from outside India need not file GSTR-9 or GSTR-9C (Notification No. 30/2019-Central Tax).
Composition taxpayers. They file their annual return in FORM GSTR-4 under section 39(2), covered in Composition Returns: CMP-08 and GSTR-4. Rule 80(1) still names FORM GSTR-9A for them, but the portal’s GSTR-9A FAQ says that form “is not applicable for the FY 2019-20 and onwards”.
Part-year cases. A person who left the composition scheme during the year files GSTR-9 for the period under normal tax. A person whose registration was cancelled during the year still files GSTR-9 for that year, according to the portal’s FAQ, unless the turnover exemption applies.

The due date, and how it moves

Rule 80(1) fixes 31 December after the end of the financial year. The return for 2025-26 is therefore due by 31 December 2026.

Until 31 July 2021, section 44(1) itself let the Commissioner extend the date by notification. Notification No. 04/2021-Central Tax, for example, moved the 2019-20 return to 31 March 2021. The section substituted from 1 August 2021 leaves the time to be “prescribed”. Extensions since then have been made by amending rule 80:

sub-rule (1A) set 28 February 2022 for 2020-21
sub-rule (1B), inserted by Notification No. 02/2024-Central Tax, set 10 January 2024 for 2022-23 in nine districts of Tamil Nadu

Two other dates matter.

30 November. Credit for the year can be taken under section 16(4) only until 30 November after the year ends, “or furnishing of the relevant annual return, whichever is earlier”. The same cut-off applies to:

corrections of GSTR-1 under section 37(3)
corrections of GSTR-3B under section 39(9)
credit notes under section 34(2)

Filing GSTR-9 before 30 November ends all four windows on the day of filing.

Three years. From 1 October 2023, section 44(2) bars an annual return “after the expiry of a period of three years from the due date”. The 2022-23 return, due on 31 December 2023, cannot be filed after 31 December 2026. The portal enforces this bar, and offers an application for unbarring that is decided by the jurisdictional officer. Both are covered in Late Returns: Late Fee, Interest, the Three-Year Bar and Notices.

What to have ready

Item	Where it comes from
Every GSTR-1, IFF and GSTR-1A for the year, filed	Portal. GSTR-9 cannot be filed until all GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B returns for the year are filed (instruction 2 to the form; the portal’s FAQ)
Every GSTR-3B for the year, filed	Portal
System-computed GSTR-9, GSTR-1/1A/IFF summary and GSTR-3B summary (PDF)	Portal, from the GSTR-9 page
Table 8A document details (Excel), built from GSTR-2B for 2023-24 onwards	Portal
HSN summary of GSTR-1 Table 12, laid out for GSTR-9 Table 17 (from 2024-25)	Portal
Sales and purchase registers, credit and debit note registers	Books
Input tax credit register, split into inputs, capital goods and input services, with reversals under rules 37, 37A, 38, 39, 42 and 43 and section 17(5)	Books, and Table 4(B) of each GSTR-3B
Supplies of the year reported in the next year’s returns up to 30 November, and credit of the year taken in them	GSTR-1/1A/IFF and GSTR-3B of April to October of the next year
IGST paid on imports, and the bills of entry	Customs records, and the ICEGATE data shown in GSTR-2B
Refunds claimed, sanctioned, rejected and pending; demands confirmed and paid	Portal (refund and demand records) and the orders themselves
Turnover of the preceding year, which decides the HSN digit requirement	Previous year’s returns

The form, part by part

FORM GSTR-9 has six parts. The instructions to the form say which GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B table each figure comes from. The current text includes the amendments made by Notification No. 13/2025-Central Tax from 22 September 2025.

Part I (Tables 1 to 3) holds the year, the GSTIN and the names.

Part II (Tables 4 and 5) covers outward supplies.

Table 4 holds supplies on which tax is payable: B2C, B2B, exports and SEZ supplies with tax, deemed exports, advances, and inward supplies taxed under reverse charge (4G). Row 4G1, added from 2023-24, is where an e-commerce operator reports supplies on which it pays tax under section 9(5).
Table 5 holds supplies on which no tax is payable: exports and SEZ supplies without tax, supplies under reverse charge, exempt, nil-rated and non-GST supplies. Row 5C1 is where the supplier reports supplies made through an operator liable under section 9(5).
Credit notes, debit notes and amendments appear in separate rows. Row 5N gives total turnover.

The source tables are those of GSTR-1 “as amended by FORM GSTR-1A”.

Part III (Tables 6 to 8) covers credit. This is where 2024-25 brought the largest changes.

6A is the total credit taken in Table 4A of the year’s GSTR-3B. It is auto-filled and cannot be edited.
6A1 is new from 2024-25. It holds credit of the preceding year that was taken in this year’s April to October returns. 6A2 is the year’s net credit (6A minus 6A1). The difference in 6J is now worked out from 6A2.
6B to 6H classify the credit: inputs, capital goods and input services; reverse charge; imports; ISD credit (6G); and credit reclaimed (6H).
From 2024-25, credit that was taken, reversed and taken again is shown in three places. The first availment goes in 6B, the reversal in Table 7, and the reclaim in 6H. A reclaim of credit reversed under rule 37 or 37A always goes in 6H.
6K to 6M hold transitional credit and credit taken through ITC-01, ITC-02 and ITC-02A.
Table 7 holds reversals. Rows 7A1 (rule 37A) and 7A2 (rule 38) are new from 2024-25.
Table 8 compares credit with what the suppliers filed. 8A is auto-filled and cannot be edited. Up to 2022-23 it came from GSTR-2A; from 2023-24 it comes from table 3(I) of GSTR-2B (instructions to Table 8A; the portal’s FAQ). From 2024-25, 8B is auto-filled from 6B. 8C holds the year’s credit taken in the next year up to 30 November. 8H1, new from 2024-25, holds IGST on imports of the year whose credit was taken in the next year. 8K is the credit that lapses.

Part IV (Table 9) is the tax paid during the year: tax payable against tax paid through cash and through credit, with interest, late fee and penalty. From 2024-25 the table also shows total tax paid and the difference between tax payable and tax paid. Only the tax payable column is editable.

Part V (Tables 10 to 14) holds the year’s transactions declared in the next year’s returns, up to the April to October returns filed by 30 November:

Table 10: supplies added, and debit notes
Table 11: supplies reduced, and credit notes
Table 12: credit reversed
Table 13: credit taken
Table 14: differential tax paid

Part VI (Tables 15 to 19) covers:

Table 15: refunds and demands
Table 16: supplies from composition taxpayers, deemed supplies to job workers, and goods sent on approval
Table 17: HSN summary of outward supplies
Table 18: HSN summary of inward supplies
Table 19: late fee

Tables that are optional, and the years they are optional for

The instructions relax certain tables, and each relaxation names the years it applies to. For 2024-25, as extended by Notification No. 13/2025-Central Tax:

Table 5D and 5E. Exempt and nil-rated supplies may be combined in the “exempted” row. Non-GST supply (5F) is reported separately.
Tables 5H to 5K. Table 5 may be reported net of credit notes, debit notes and amendments.
Table 6B. Capital goods are shown separately. The rest may all be reported as “inputs”.
Tables 6C and 6D. These may be combined in 6D.
Tables 15, 16 and 18. These may be left blank.

The burden grew in 2024-25 in four places:

The option to put every reversal in 7H runs only to 2023-24, so Table 7 is now filled row by row.
The option to leave Tables 12 and 13 blank also ends with 2023-24.
The portal’s manual records that, from 2024-25, clicking COMPUTE LIABILITIES without filling Table 17 produces an error.
Under the HSN instruction, from 2021-22, persons with turnover above Rs 5 crore in the preceding year report six-digit codes, and others report four digits for B2B supplies.

No notification issued up to 11 October 2026 extends these relaxations to 2025-26. As the instructions now read, a GSTR-9 for 2025-26 has no optional tables.

Portal steps

The portal’s user manual for GSTR-9 (tutorial.gst.gov.in) describes the sequence:

The filer logs in and opens Services > Returns > Annual Return, selects the financial year and clicks PREPARE ONLINE on the GSTR-9 tile.
The portal asks whether a nil return is to be filed. Under the manual’s conditions, a nil return is possible only if there were no outward or inward supplies, no other liability, no credit, no refund, no demand and no late fee.
The filer downloads the system-computed GSTR-9, the GSTR-1/1A/IFF summary, the GSTR-3B summary and the Table 8A document details. From 2024-25 the GSTR-1 Table 12 HSN details can also be downloaded.
The filer opens each table tile, edits figures where the books differ and saves. A value more than 20 per cent away from the auto-filled figure is highlighted. From 2024-25, any value that differs from the system figure stays highlighted in red even after filing, according to the manual.
The filer clicks COMPUTE LIABILITIES. The portal calculates any late fee, which must be paid in cash before filing; the FAQ says the return cannot be filed without it.
The filer previews the draft in PDF or Excel, ticks the declaration, selects the authorised signatory and files with DSC or EVC.
The portal issues an ARN and sends an SMS and an email.

The portal also offers an offline tool for GSTR-9.

Tax found short, and why credit cannot be added

Instruction 4 to the form allows additional liability for the year, not declared in GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B, to be declared in GSTR-9. The same instruction says “taxpayers cannot claim input tax credit” through the return, and the portal’s FAQ is to the same effect. Credit missed in the year is lost if it was not taken in a GSTR-3B by the section 16(4) cut-off.

Additional tax is paid in FORM GST DRC-03, with “Annual Return” chosen from the drop-down (instruction 9). Since Notification No. 13/2025-Central Tax, instruction 9 allows payment from the electronic cash ledger “or electronic credit ledger”. The portal’s FAQ, not yet updated, still says cash ledger only. Interest under section 50 is paid in cash.

Signing

Rule 26(1) requires returns to be submitted with a digital signature certificate (DSC), an e-signature, or another mode notified by the Board. Electronic verification code (EVC) is such a mode. Rule 26(1) once had a proviso requiring companies to use a DSC. Notification No. 32/2021-Central Tax omitted all its provisos from 1 November 2021.

Rule 26(2) says who signs for each kind of person:

an individual signs personally
for a Hindu undivided family, the karta signs
for a company, the chief executive officer or authorised signatory
for a firm, a partner who is not a minor, or the authorised signatory

The portal’s FAQ lists DSC and EVC as the two modes for GSTR-9.

Late fee

Section 47(2) imposes a late fee of Rs 100 a day under the CGST Act, up to “a quarter per cent. of his turnover in the State or Union territory”. For 2022-23 onwards, Notification No. 07/2023-Central Tax waives the excess over these amounts:

Aggregate turnover in the year	Late fee under the CGST Act
Up to Rs 5 crore	Rs 25 a day, up to 0.02 per cent of turnover in the State or Union territory
Above Rs 5 crore, up to Rs 20 crore	Rs 50 a day, up to 0.02 per cent of turnover in the State or Union territory
Above Rs 20 crore	No waiver: Rs 100 a day, up to 0.25 per cent

These are central tax figures. A late fee is also levied under the State or Union territory GST Act, and Table 19 shows the central and State amounts separately.

For example, a person with Rs 3 crore of turnover, all in one State, who files 60 days late owes Rs 1,500 under the CGST Act. That is Rs 25 for 60 days, well under the cap of Rs 6,000, which is 0.02 per cent of Rs 3 crore.

Where GSTR-9C is also required, the late fee runs until both forms are filed (Circular No. 246/03/2025-GST). The GSTR-9C guide covers this.

After filing

The portal’s FAQ is explicit: “you cannot revise Form GSTR-9 return after filing”. An error found later can be dealt with in two ways:

tax short paid can still be paid through DRC-03
a disclosure can be made in the following year’s return, where the form provides for it

What can still be corrected, and how, is in Correcting Mistakes in Returns.

The return’s due date also starts the clock for demands under sections 73, 74 and 74A, whether or not the return is filed. This is explained in GST Notices.

The procedure in order

Check whether GSTR-9 is due. Aggregate turnover across the PAN must exceed Rs 2 crore, and the person must be outside the excluded classes.
File every GSTR-1, IFF, GSTR-1A and GSTR-3B for the year.
Before 30 November, make corrections and take any credit still available. Filing GSTR-9 earlier closes these windows.
Download the system-computed GSTR-9, the GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B summaries and the Table 8A details, and reconcile each table with the books.
Fill the tables, using the relaxations only for the years they name. For 2025-26 none apply.
Compute liabilities and pay any late fee in cash.
Preview, sign with DSC or EVC, and file by 31 December.
Pay any additional tax and interest through DRC-03, choosing “Annual Return”.
If GSTR-9C is required, file it as well. The annual return is not complete without it.

The next guide covers GSTR-9C: who must file it, its tables, and the late fee that runs until it is filed.

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