Annual Return (Section 44(1) and Rule 80 of CGST Rules, 2017)
GSTR 9 form is an annual return to be filed once in a year by the registered taxpayers under GST including those registered under composition levy scheme. It consists of details regarding the supplies made and received during the year under different tax heads i.e. CGST, SGST and IGST. It consolidates the information furnished in the monthly/quarterly returns during the year.
All the registered taxable persons under GST must file GSTR 9 form. However, the following persons are not required to file GSTR 9
- Casual Taxable Person
- Input service distributors
- Non-resident taxable persons
- Persons paying TDS under section 51 of GST Act.
Different types of return—
There are 4 types of return under GSTR 9:
- GSTR 9: GSTR 9 should be filed by the regular taxpayers filing GSTR 1, GSTR 2, and GSTR3.
- GSTR 9A: GSTR 9A should be filed by the persons registered under composition scheme under GST.
- GSTR 9B: GSTR 9B should be filed by the e-commerce operators who have filed GSTR 8 during the financial year.
- GSTR 9C: GSTR 9C should be filed by the taxpayers whose annual turnover exceeds Rs2 crores during the financial year. All such taxpayers are also required to get their accounts audited and file a copy of audited annual accounts and reconciliation statement of tax already paid and tax payable as per audited accounts along with GSTR 9C.
Due date of GSTR-9
GSTR-9 due date is on or before 31st December of the subsequent financial year.
For instance, for FY 2017-18, the due date for filing GSTR 9 is 31st December 2018.
Penalty for the late filing of GSTR-9 form
Late fees for not filing the GSTR 9 within the due date is Rs. 100 per day per act up to a maximum of an amount calculated at a quarter percent of the taxpayer turnover in the state or union territory. Thus it is Rs 100 under CGST & 100 under SGST; the total penalty is Rs 200 per day of default. There is no late fee on IGST.
Details required in the GSTR-9
| S.No. |
Parts of GSTR-9 |
Information required |
1. |
Part-I |
Basic details of the taxpayer. This detail will be auto-populated. |
2. |
Part-II |
Details of Outward and Inward supplies declared during the financial year (FY). This detail must be picked up by consolidating summary from all GST returns filed in previous FY. |
3. |
Part-III |
Details of ITC declared in returns filed during the FY. This will be summarised values picked up from all the GST returns filed in previous FY. |
4. |
Part-IV |
Details of tax paid as declared in returns filed during the FY. |
5. |
Part-V |
Particulars of the transactions for the previous FY declared in returns of April to September of current FY or up to the date of filing of annual returns of previous FY whichever is earlier. Usually, the summary of amendment or omission entries belonging to previous FY but reported in Current FY would be segregated and declared here. |
6. |
Part-VI |
Other Information comprising details of:
GST Demands and refunds,
HSN wise summary information of the quantity of goods supplied and received with its corresponding Tax details against each HSN code,
Late fees payable and paid details and
Segregation of inward supplies received from different categories of taxpayers like Composition dealers, deemed supply and goods supplied on approval basis. |
FAQ
1. Whether transactions for the period April-17 to June-17 are also to be included in GSTR-9 for FY 2017-18?
No, instructions forming part of GSTR-9 which was notified by Notification No. 39/2018 dated 04th September 2018, clearly mentions that only details for the period July 2017 to March 2018 are to be provided in GSTR-9.
2. If a Taxpayer has obtained more than one GST Registration even though he has a single PAN, then whether GSTR-9 is to be filed at Entity level or GSTIN wise?
As per Legal provision of Section 44(1) of CGST Act, every registered person shall be required to file GSTR-9. Hence, if a Taxpayer has obtained multiple GST Registrations whether in one state or more than one state, it shall be treated as a distinct person in respect of each such registration as per section 25(4) of CGST Act. Hence, GSTR-9 is required to be filed separately for each such GSTIN.
3. What is the difference between GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C?
As per section 35(5) of CGST Act, every registered person whose turnover during the financial year exceeds prescribed limit (Rs. 2 cr.) shall get his accounts audited by a chartered accountant or a cost accountant and shall submit a copy of the audited annual accounts, the reconciliation statement under sub-section (2) of section 44 which is called GSTR-9C and such other documents in such form and manner as may be prescribed. Hence, requirement of GST Audit u/s 35(5) would arise only if prescribed limit of turnover exceeds Rs. 2 cr. and certified reconciliation statement -GSTR-9C shall require to be submitted.
On the other hand, GSTR-9 is an Annual return which is required to be filed by every registered person irrespective of threshold limit of turnover.
4. Whether Turnover of 2 Cr. For GST Audit would be for 9 months or Full Financial year?
For the FY 2017-18, the GST period comprises of 9 months whereas the relevant section 35(5) uses the expression Financial Year; Therefore, in the absence of clarification from Government, also to avoid any cases of default, it is reasonable to understand that reckon the turnover limits prescribed for audit i.e. 2 Cr. One has to reckon the turnover for the whole of the Financial Year which would include the first quarter of FY 2017-18.
5. What will be source of information for filling up GSTR-9?
GSTR-9 is merely a compilation of data filed in GSTR-3B and GSTR-1. As per the instructions of the form GSTR-9, it is stated that information of outward supplies ‘may’ be derived from Form GSTR 1. Hence, so far as Outward supplies and tax payable in the annual return is concerned, the same are to be extracted from Form GSTR 1 only.
Inward supplies, input tax credit and the net tax paid in cash are to be gathered from Form GSTR 3B.
But before filing GSTR-9, Value as per GSTR-3B and GSTR-1 must align. If there are any differences, then the same must be adjusted to subsequent returns filed up to September-18 as per circular 26/26/2017-GST dated 29th December 2017.
It seems that the inherent assumption that has been taken while drafting the form is that Form GSTR 3B and Form GSTR 1 are in consonance with each other which may not be always true.
In case the values as per Form GSTR 3B and GSTR 1 are not matching with each other, one may arrive at a differential value of tax payable and tax paid as per annual return. A clarification may be expected from the Government regarding the manner of payment of any additional liability (if any). However, if one faces such a situation, then the additional tax liability may be paid through Form GSTR 3B of the subsequent month/Form DRC-03.
6. Whether GSTR-9 can be revised?
No such option has been provided in the law till now.
7. How much late fee is payable for late filing of GSTR-9?
As per section 47(2) of CGST Act, Late fee for belated filing of GSTR-9 is Rs.100 per day subject to maximum of 0.25% of turnover in a state/UT. Similar provision is there in SGST Act also. Hence, in total there will be late fee of Rs.200 per day subject to 0.50% of turnover in a state on late filing of GSTR-9.
8. What are the consequences of the failure to file GSTR-9?
If one fails to file GSTR-9 then first late fees will be payable as discussed above. A notice may be issued u/s 46 requiring him to furnish such return within stipulated time. |