Overview

Goods and Services Tax (GST) return is a crucial aspect of the taxation system in India. It is a document that outlines the income, sales, purchases, and tax liabilities of a taxpayer for a specific period. Filing GST return is mandatory for all businesses registered under the GST Act, irrespective of their turnover. 

The importance of GST return lies in its role in ensuring compliance with tax laws, facilitating transparency, and enabling efficient tax collection. Before filing the return, you need to clear the tax due otherwise your return would not be acceptable, online GST returns carry all the details of a registered business such as sales, purchase, tax collected and paid thereon.

Why

One of the primary reasons why GST return is important is that it helps in ensuring compliance with tax laws and regulations. By filing their returns on time and accurately reporting their income, sales, and tax liabilities, businesses can avoid penalties and legal consequences.

GST return also helps in identifying tax evaders and ensuring that all taxpayers contribute their fair share to the government's revenue. This promotes a level playing field for all businesses and helps in curbing tax evasion, ultimately leading to a fairer and more efficient tax system.

Moreover, GST return plays a crucial role in facilitating transparency and accountability in the taxation system. By documenting all their financial transactions and tax liabilities, businesses create a transparent record of their operations for the tax authorities to review. 

This promotes trust between taxpayers and the government, as it enables authorities to verify the accuracy of the taxes paid by businesses. Additionally, transparent tax compliance helps in reducing corruption and promoting a culture of honesty and integrity in the business community. Overall, GST return contributes to building a transparent and accountable tax system that benefits both taxpayers and the government.

How to File GST Return?

GST returns are filed in different forms, the form type depends upon the nature or transaction and registration, and the following are the returns forms, which are applicable to normal tax payers along with their due dates:-

1. Outward supplies must be filed in FORM GSTR-1 on the monthly basis by the 11th of every month.

2. Inward supplies must be filed in FORM GSTR-2B on the monthly basis, its cut-off and generation date 14th of every month.

3. A return of payment of tax due must be filed in FORM GSTR-3B on the monthly basis every month.

4. GST Annual return must be filed in FORM GSTR-9 & 9C on the annually basis, in every financial year.

Who is Eligible to file GST Return?

Every business or company which is registered under GST Act, will have to file GST returns, if no business activities (sales and purchase) happen during the return period then NIL GST return has to be filed.

Timeline of Filing GST Return

The timeline of filing return can vary on the type of registration and transactions and different periods have been specified. For the regular tax payers, there is monthly filing, foreign non-residents, input service distributor, tax detectors, and e-commerce operators. On the other side composition tax payers will have to file quarterly return.

GSTR-1 Return

GSTR-1 Return carries the details of outward supplies of goods and services by taxpayer, in this form there should be certain information of the transaction which is as follows:-

• Basic details of business such as its name, GSTIN and the period for which it is filed.

• Details of invoices issued in the previous month and the corresponding tax to be paid.

• Details of the advance received against a supply which has to be adjusted in the future.

GSTR-2B Return

GSTR-2B is a monthly reconciliation statement that taxpayers registered under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India are required to file. It carries the details of inward supplies of goods and services. GSTR-2 is preferred to be for a buyer and GST-1 is for supplier, therefore you have to validate the information and make amendments if required, because the filled information in GSTR-1 is reflected in the GSTR-2, you just need to validate that.

GSTR-3B Return

The combined version of GSTR-1 and GSTR-2 is GSTR-3B, in the case of GSTR-2 and GSTR-3, required information is prefilled for a taxpayer on the basis of GSTR-1 and GSTR-2. All you need to do is to validate the information and modify it (if required). GSTR-3 carries the following details: -

• Details about ITC (Input Tax Credit) ledger, cash ledger and liability ledger.

• Information of payment of tax under various tax heads of CGST, SGST, IGST.

• Taxpayer will also have the option of claiming a refund of excess payment or carry forward the credit.

GSTR Annual Return (GSTR-4)

GSTR-4 is a GST return specifically for taxpayers who have opted for the Composition Scheme under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in India. Any taxpayer whose turnover is more than threshold (1.5 Crores for manufacturers and retailers and 50 lakhs for service sector), he has an option to opt the composition scheme, in this case he is required to pay tax on the fix rates depending on the business type. In GSTR-4, there is no input tax credit facility provided, under this scheme the individual is simply required to file quarterly return GSTR-4, it carries the following details: -

• Total value of the supply made during the period of filing return.

• Information of payment of tax in the return.

• Declare invoice-level purchase information.

• Quarterly return is CMP-08 for declaring tax liability @1% of the turnover.

GST Annual Return (GSTR-9)

Now annul tax return has to be filed by all the normal tax payers under GST, the motive of this return is to bring the complete visibility of the tax activities of the taxpayer, GSTR-9 carries certain details as follows: -

• GSTR-9 is a detailed return that all the expenditure and income information of the taxpayer and regroups the details according to monthly returns.

• Another major advantage of the GSTR-9 is, it provides the opportunity to correct any short reporting of activities.

• GSTR-9C has to be filed along with the audited copies of the annual accounts. The due date of filing is 31st of December of the following financial year for previous year.

GSTR-9 is an annual return where as GSTR-9 is a reconciliation statement of GSTR-9 and audited financial statement. Whose turnover is more than 2 Cr in the preceding financial year have to file their GSTR-9 as a GST Compliance and whose turnover is more than 5 cr. are required to file GSTR-9 & 9C before or on due date i.e 31st December of every year. GSTR-9 is optional for the taxpayer whose turnover is less than 2 cr.

Why CRSPL?

• Detailed Guidance:- The experts of CRSPL will provide your every single detail and guidance so that you do not miss any step. We will keep you updated about eligibility criteria, document requirement and processing of application. 

• Preparation & Assistance:- CRSPL assists you in preparing all necessary documents for the successful application and guide you for further process. 

• Application Submission and Approval:- CRSPL handles the entire application submission process by ensuring all the details are accurate and in proper manner on behalf of our client.

• Expert Consultants:- For any query related to business or company, you can meet business consultants at CRSPL, they are readily available to assist you.