GSTR-9 Annual Return: Due Date, Applicability, Turnover Limit, Format, Eligibility, Rules

GSTR-9 is an annual GST return return filed by 31st December of the year following the particular financial year. GSTR-9 return contains sales, purchases and GST charged and paid on the same during the financial year. Registered taxpayers under GST must file GSTR-9 if their annual turnover limit exceeds Rs. 2 crores.

As a finance leader and professional, you must have known that filing GSTR-9 is more than just consolidating GSTR-1, GSTR-2B and GSTR-3B filed during a financial year. It involves rigorous reconciliations and any short paid tax or excess tax credit claims must be settled with the government. So, let's deep dive into GSTR-9 in this article. You can learn the following-

What is the GSTR-9 annual return?

Who should file GSTR-9 annual return?

What is GSTR-9 due date?

GSTR 9 turnover limit

GSTR-9 types

Contents of GSTR-9 and GSTR 9 Format 

Quick steps to file GSTR-9

Consequences of not filing GSTR-9

FAQs on GSTR-9

Latest Updates

55th GST Council meeting
As on 21st December 2024, the Council will issue a circular clarifying the late fee applicable u/s 47(2) of the CGST Act, 2017 for delay in filing annual return in the form GSTR-9 and reconciliation statement in the form GSTR-9C.*

53rd GST Council meeting
As on 22nd June 2024, the Council has recommended to provide relaxation to taxpayers from filing GSTR-9/9A for FY 2023-24 where their aggregate annual turnover for the said financial year is below Rs.2 crore. This was notified via CGST notification 14/2024 dated 10th July 2024.

*The same would be given effect through the relevant circulars/ notifications.

What is the GSTR-9 annual return?

GSTR 9 is an annual return to be filed yearly by taxpayers registered under GST. Points to note:

It consists of details regarding the outward and inward supplies made/received during the relevant financial year under different tax heads i.e. CGST, SGST & IGST along with the cess and HSN codes.

It is a consolidation of all the monthly/quarterly returns (GSTR-1, GSTR-2A, GSTR-2B, and GSTR-3B) filed in that year. Though complex, this return helps in extensive reconciliation of data for 100% transparent disclosures.

GSTR 9 applicability: Who should file GSTR-9 annual return?

All GST registered taxpayers must file their GSTR 9. However, the following are NOT required to file GSTR 9:

Taxpayers opting composition scheme (They must file GSTR-9A)

Casual Taxable Person

Input service distributors

Non-resident taxable persons

Persons paying TDS under section 51 of CGST Act

person collecting TCS under section 52 of CGST Act

GSTR-9 types

The CGST Rule 80 covers the provisions pertaining to the annual return forms under the GST law. Annual returns in GST are of four types as follows-

GSTR 9- Regular GST taxpayers who file GSTR 1 and GSTR 3B must file this return, especially if they cross the GST annual return limit of Rs.2 crore turnover during the financial year.

GSTR 9A- Composition taxable persons had to file this annual return until FY 2018-19. However, from FY 2019-20 onwards, it is replaced with GSTR-4 annual return due for every financial year on 30th April of the following year.

GSTR 9B- This annual return is applicable under the GST law to e-commerce operators collecting tax TCS (tax at source) and filing GSTR 8 each month. However, the filing of this annual return is put on hold.

GSTR 9C- Annual Reconciliation Statement is an audit form that must be self certified and filed by all taxpayers whose aggregate turnover exceeds Rs.5 crores in a financial year.

What is GSTR-9 turnover limit?

GSTR-9 (Annual Return) is optional for businesses with turnover up to Rs.2 crore since FY 17-18 onwards till FY 2023-24. Every year, the GST department notifies the threshold turnover limit above which it is mandatory to file GSTR-9.

What is GSTR 9 due date?

GSTR 9 last date for FY 2024-25 is 31st December 2025. GST annual return due date or GSTR-9 due date is 31st of December of next year for a particular financial year. 

GSTR-9 contents and GSTR 9 format

The GSTR-9 form is divided into 6 parts and 19 sections. Each part asks for details that are easily available from your previously filed returns and books of accounts.

Broadly, GSTR-9 required annual sales, bifurcating it between the cases that are subject to tax and not subject to tax.

On the purchase side, the annual value of inward supplies and ITC availed thereon is to be revealed.

Furthermore, these purchases have to be classified as inputs, input services, and capital goods.

Details of ITC that needs to be reversed due to ineligibility are to be entered.

GSTR 9 filing steps

GSTR 9 filing steps can be summarised as follows-

Finish the filing of GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B to date, especially for FY 24-25.

Perform an in-depth ITC reconciliation and sales reconciliation from begining of the financial year to date.

Communicate with the vendors and customers about any gaps found upon reconciliation.

Make disclosures related to FY 24-25 in the form in the government's offline tool or even better by using any cloud-based software such as Clear for easy auto-fills and end-to-end filing! 

Pay via DRC-03 any short payment of tax or excess ITC claims identified for FY 24-25.

File the GSTR-9 on the GST portal.

For the complete steps to file GSTR-9 on the GST portal, refer to our page ‘Step-by-step guide to file GSTR-9’

Late fee and penalty for not filing GSTR-9 

Department categorised taxpayers based on the turnover for imposing late fee for late filing of GSTR-9. It also mentioned that below late fee attracts from FY 2022-23 onwards:

Further, for financial years up to 2021-22, the late fees for not filing the GSTR 9 within the due date was Rs.100 per day, per Act. That means late fees of Rs.100 under CGST and Rs.100 under SGST were applicable in case of delay. Accordingly, the total liability was Rs.200 per day of default.

This is subject to a maximum of 0.25% of the taxpayer’s turnover in the relevant state or union territory per Act. However, there is no late fee on IGST yet.

GST amnesty scheme for GSTR-9 in 2023

The CBIC notified vide 07/2023 dated 31st March 2023, a waiver of late fees in excess of Rs.20,000 (i.e., Rs.10,000 each under CGST and SGST Act) for delayed filing of GSTR-9 for years 2017-18 up to 2021-22 if filed between 1st April 2023 to 30th June 2023.

Why should you choose Clear for filing GST Annual Return?

Solutions by Clear let's you stay ahead of the compliance game, whether you are a professional, growing business or an established enterprise! Clear Finance Cloud for Compliance, powered by the GL-Stream, comes with a host of features to make the GSTR-9 (annual return) and GSTR-9C filing process easier and error-free-

Streamline Revenue GL vs GSTR-1, Output GL vs GSTR-1: Automate the reconciliation of Revenue General Ledger (GL) with the sales register and Output GL with the sales register every month. Using a reconciled sales register for filing reduces the risk of differences with GSTR-1 during the year-end.

Simplify ITC GL vs GSTR-3B, RCM GL vs GSTR-3B Paid: Regularly reconcile ITC GL with the purchase register to ensure alignment with GSTR-3B. This also helps reduce the differences between RCM GL and GSTR-3B payments during the annual compliances.

De-risk GSTR-1 vs GSTR-3B: A single data source for all compliances prevents inconsistencies between GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B during annual returns.

Auto-filling of tables in the GSTR-9 form from the GSTR-1, 2A, 3B and books

Easy copy-pasting of data on the Excel-like form

Download multi-month GSTR-2A data with a single click of a button

Reconciliation of GSTR-2A/2B, Table 8A vis-a-vis purchase register with our matching tool

Auto-fills data in Tables 4 and 5 of GSTR-9 pertaining to e-Commerce (4G1 & 5C1) 

A 17-point checklist that will detect and flag mismatches

Convenient download of the JSON file to upload on the GSTN

An in-built audit trail at an invoice level for each entry.

Auto-computation of the outward HSN summary from the sales books to fill Table-17

With the Clear Finance Cloud for Compliance, powered by the GL-Stream technology, you can stream your data directly from your general ledger for tax reporting. Our solution provides an end-to-end filing platform for GSTR-9 at a PAN level across multiple GSTINs.