• Important Announcement

GSTR 9 Annual Return due date has been extended from 30th June to 31st August 2019 for FY 2017-18

We all know that filing income tax returns every year is mandatory. Similarly, GSTR-9 is the GST Annual return that has to be filed under the GST laws every year. It must be filed by the GST registered taxpayers (including those registered under composition levy scheme).
 

• What is GSTR-9 annual return?

GSTR 9 is an annual return to be filed yearly by taxpayers registered under GST. It consists of details regarding the outward and inward supplies made/received during the relevant previous year under different tax heads i.e. CGST, SGST & IGST and HSN codes. Basically, it is a consolidation of all the monthly/quarterly returns (GSTR-1, GSTR-2A, GSTR-3B) filed in that year. Though complex, this return helps in extensive reconciliation of data for 100% transparent disclosures.

• What are the different types of annual returns?

There are 4 types of annual returns:

• GSTR 9: GSTR 9 should be filed by the regular taxpayers who are filing GSTR 1, and GSTR 3B.
• GSTR 9A: GSTR 9A should be filed by the persons registered under the composition scheme of GST.
• GSTR 9B:  GSTR 9B should be filed by the e-commerce operators who have filed GSTR 8during the financial year.
• GSTR 9C: Every person registered under GST, whose aggregate turnover during a financial year exceeds two crore rupees would need to get his accounts audited as specified under sub-section (5) of section 35 of the GST Act. A copy of the audited annual accounts and a reconciliation statement, duly certified, should be furnished in form GSTR 9C.

• Who should file GSTR 9, the annual return?

As mentioned above, all taxpayers/taxable persons registered under GST 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.

 

• What is the due date to file GSTR-9?

GSTR-9 is to be filed on or before the 31st of December of the subsequent financial year. However, the Government has the power to extend this due date to such other date it considers necessary.

For instance:

• For FY 2017-18, the due date for filing GSTR 9 has been extended to 31^st August 2019.
• For FY 2018-19 the due date for filing GSTR 9 is 31st December 2019.

Important: GSTR-9 once filed cannot be revised.

• What is the penalty for the late filing of GSTR-9?

The late fees for not filing the GSTR 9 within the due date is Rs 100 per day, per act. That means late fees of Rs 100 under CGST & Rs 100 under SGST will be applicable in case of delay. Thus, the total liability is Rs 200 per day of default. This is subject to a maximum of 2.5% of the taxpayer’s turnover in the relevant state or union territory. However, there is no late fee on IGST yet.

• What are the details required to be filled in the GSTR-9?

The GSTR-9 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, this form asks for disclosure of 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 is to be entered.

Let’s go through each part:

Part I (Table 1-3): This part asks for the basic details such as financial year, GSTIN of the filer, legal and trade names. These details are auto-populated.

Part II (Table 4-5): Here, the taxpayers have to provide details of outward and inward supplies declared during the Financial Year (FY). This information can be gathered and verified from the various GSTR-1’s and GSTR-3Bs filed in that year.
Part III (Table 6-8): This section deals with the details of the Input Tax Credit (ITC) as declared in returns filed during the FY. Details of the ITC reversed and ineligible ITC as declared in individual returns has to be entered in the section as well. A few of these details will be picked up from the GST returns already filed. For example – Information available in GSTR-2A as on 01.05.2019 will be auto-populated in Table 8A of GSTR-9.

Part IV (Table 9): In this section, details of relevant taxes already paid and declared in returns filed during the FY has to be entered.

Part V (Table 10-14): This part asks for details of the transaction that are related to the (relevant) FY, declared in the returns of the next financial year. Additional or omitted entries belonging to the previous year, but reported in the current year should be declared here as well.

Part VI (Table 15-19): All other information has to be reported here. This could include:

• GST demand and refund details;
• Supplies received from composition taxpayers,
• Deemed supply goods sent on approval basis;
• HSN-wise summary of outward and inward supplies
• Late fees paid/payable

The principal source of data for preparing GSTR-9 will be GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B that are already filed. The data as per the books of accounts also matters. Therefore, all information must be cross-checked with the books of accounts before it is declared in the annual return.

Important: The information declared in the annual returns has multiple implications. Any incorrect information can attract notices, tax demands, interest and penalties and much more. Please check the details filled in before filing as GST Annual return once filed, cannot be revised.

• Clarifications on GSTR 9

• In a few cases, certain transactions are not reported in the filed GST returns for various reasons. However, these will affect the tax liability at the end of the year.
  It is clarified that ITC on this, cannot be claimed in GSTR-9. Further, liability identified later can be deposited with Government using DRC-03 Form. 
  Examples for this situation are – Supply without consideration, goods sent on approval basis, deemed supplies where taxpayers have sent inputs or capital goods to the job workers and have not received them by one or three years respectively, etc.
• The Ministry of Finance has clarified that the auto-population of data is a service provided to the taxpayers for easy filing. However, the taxpayers have to report the data as per their books of accounts or GST returns filed during the financial year.
• Any payments made through FORM DRC-03 for any supplies relating to the period between July 2017 to March 2018 will not be accounted for in FORM GSTR-9 but shall be reported during reconciliation in FORM GSTR-9C.

• FAQs on GSTR-9

1. Is it mandatory to file Form GSTR-9?

Yes, it’s mandatory to file form GSTR-9 for normal taxpayers.

2. Can I revise the GSTR-9 which has been filed?

No. Currently, GSTR-9 does not allow for any revision after filing.

3. I got my registration cancelled in the financial year say FY 2017-18. Can I file Form GSTR-9?

Yes, the annual return needs to be filed even if the taxpayer has got his registration cancelled during the said financial year.

4. Whether form GSTR-9 return is required to be filed at the entity level or GSTIN level?

Form GSTR-9 return is required to be filed at the GSTIN level i.e. for each registration. If taxpayer has obtained multiple GST registrations, under the same PAN, whether in the same State or different States, he/she is required to file annual return for each registration separately, where the GSTIN was registered as a normal taxpayer for some time during the financial year or for the whole of the financial year.

5. Should I match my input GST with 2A before filing GSTR 9?

Yes, you must reconcile GSTR-2A for FY 2017-18 data with the input tax credit accounted in your books of accounts till March 2019 for FY 2017-18 data before filing GSTR-9.

6. Do we have to file monthly GSTR 9 return after we have received the cancellation order, but the final return is pending?

As per the Legal provision of Section 44(1) of CGST Act, every registered person shall be required to file GSTR-9. Hence, even if the status of the taxpayer is not registered as on 31st March 2018 but he was registered between July-17 to March-18, he shall be required to file the GSTR-9 providing details for the period during which he was registered. Similarly, if a taxpayer had applied for cancellation of registration but the application was pending as on 31st March 2018, he shall be required to file GSTR-9.

7. What happens to the provisional credit recorded in the books of accounts and claimed in GSTR-3B, if that is not reported by suppliers in their GSTR-1 and hence not reflecting in GSTR-2A?

We can show as per the amount claimed in GSTR-3B.

 

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