GST Monthly Filing

Monthly GST return filing with complete compliance and reconciliation.

GST return filing is a monthly cycle in which GSTR-1 reports what you sold, GSTR-3B reports the tax actually payable after input credit, and the credit you can claim is limited to what your suppliers have themselves reported. That last part is the one that costs money: since input credit became restricted to invoices appearing in GSTR-2B, a supplier who does not file on time is a supplier whose GST you have paid and cannot yet claim.

Who this is for

Monthly returns filed
ITC reconciliation
Payment tracking
Penalty avoidance

Documents you'll need

Sales register for the month
Purchase register for the month
GST portal login credentials
Previous month's filed returns

The process

What we actually do

1
We reconcile your purchases against GSTR-2B every month
GSTR-2B is the static statement of credit available to you, generated from what your suppliers filed. Anything you have paid GST on that is not in it cannot be claimed this month. We produce the list of missing invoices with the supplier's GSTIN so you can chase the specific person holding your money.
2
We check the place of supply on every interstate line
Charging CGST and SGST where IGST was due — or the reverse — means the tax was paid under the wrong head. The correction is not a journal entry: it involves paying again under the right head and claiming a refund of the wrong one, which takes months.
3
We file GSTR-1 with the invoice detail
GSTR-1 is what feeds your customers' GSTR-2B. A late or inaccurate GSTR-1 blocks their credit, which is why customers chase it — and why a business with a reputation for filing late starts losing registered customers.
4
We compute and file GSTR-3B
The tax payable after eligible input credit, with reverse charge liability added and the ineligible credit under section 17(5) removed. Blocked credits — motor vehicles, personal consumption, works contract for immovable property — are the commonest source of a later demand.
5
We watch the annual reconciliation as the year goes
GSTR-9 and, above the threshold, GSTR-9C are where a year of small differences arrives at once. Reconciling monthly means the annual return is a summary rather than an investigation.
6
We clear backlogs oldest-first
Returns cannot be filed out of order, so a gap in March blocks everything after it. Late fees run per return per day until each one is filed, which is why a two-month backlog handled now costs a fraction of the same backlog in six months.

Who this is for

Every business holding a GSTIN, in every month, including months with no sales at all
Businesses on the QRMP scheme, who file quarterly but still pay monthly
Composition dealers, who file CMP-08 quarterly and GSTR-4 annually
E-commerce sellers reconciling platform-reported sales against their own books
Businesses whose input credit claimed has drifted away from what GSTR-2B shows
Anyone with a backlog of unfiled returns, where late fees are still running

How long it takes

The monthly cycle runs to fixed dates: GSTR-1 by the 11th, GSTR-3B by the 20th. We ask for your sales and purchase data by the 5th, which leaves room to chase missing supplier invoices before the credit is lost for that month. A backlog is cleared oldest-first and the timeline depends on how many periods are open.

If you do nothing

Two missed months block e-way bill generation, which for anyone moving goods stops the business rather than inconveniencing it. Six months of non-filing allows cancellation of registration, and revocation afterwards requires filing every pending return with the full late fee anyway. Meanwhile your customers lose the credit on your invoices and take it up with you commercially long before the department does.

The law, in figures

Dates, thresholds and sections

Every figure below carries the provision it comes from, so it can be checked.
What	Figure	Source
GSTR-1 due date, monthly filers	11th of the following month	Notification 83/2020-Central Tax
GSTR-3B due date	20th of the following month for monthly filers	Rule 61, CGST Rules 2017
QRMP quarterly return due date	22nd or 24th of the month following the quarter, by state	Notification 84/2020-Central Tax
Annual return GSTR-9 due date	31 December following the financial year	Section 44, CGST Act 2017
Late fee	₹50 per day (₹20 for nil returns), capped by turnover slab	Section 47 read with Notification 19/2021
Interest on late payment of tax	18% per annum	Section 50(1), CGST Act 2017

What usually goes wrong

Claiming input credit on invoices that are not in GSTR-2B, which is reversed with interest when it is checked
Skipping a nil return in a month with no sales — the late fee runs on nil returns too
Claiming credit blocked under section 17(5): motor vehicles, staff welfare, construction of immovable property
Charging IGST on an intra-state supply, or CGST and SGST on an inter-state one
Filing GSTR-3B and leaving GSTR-1 unfiled, so customers cannot see the invoice and cannot claim credit
Leaving reverse charge liability out of 3B — commercial rent from an unregistered landlord is the one most often missed

What non-compliance costs

Late fee of ₹50 per day per return, ₹20 for nil returns, subject to the turnover-based cap
Interest at 18% per annum on tax paid late, and 24% on input credit wrongly availed and utilised
E-way bill generation is blocked after two consecutive months of unfiled GSTR-3B, which stops goods moving
Registration can be cancelled under section 29(2) after six months of continuous non-filing

These are statutory amounts, not our fees. What we charge depends on your situation and is quoted before any work starts.

Not to be confused with

These come up in the same conversation and are routinely treated as the same thing. They are not.

GSTR-1

The outward supply statement — what you sold. It carries no payment; it is what feeds your customers' available credit.

GSTR-3B

The summary return where tax is actually paid, after setting off eligible input credit. Filing 3B does not substitute for filing GSTR-1.

GSTR-2B

Not a return you file at all. It is the static monthly statement of the credit available to you, generated from your suppliers' filings, and it is the ceiling on what you may claim.

Common questions

How often do I have to file GST returns?

Monthly for most registered businesses — GSTR-1 by the eleventh and GSTR-3B by the twentieth of the following month. Businesses with turnover up to ₹5 crore can opt into the QRMP scheme and file quarterly instead, though tax still has to be paid every month. Composition dealers file one annual return in GSTR-4 plus a quarterly payment statement.

See all questions

Work like this

Wholesale trade · Ranchi, Jharkhand
A trader fourteen months behind on GST returns
A Ranchi hardware wholesaler had stopped filing after a staff departure and was facing a blocked GSTIN and accumulating late fees.
Returns outstanding
28
Brought current in
6 weeks
Input credit recovered
₹4.1 lakh

Terms you will come across

Input Tax Credit: Input tax credit is the GST you paid on business purchases, which you set off against the GST you collect on sales so that tax applies only to the value you added.
GSTR-1: GSTR-1 is the monthly or quarterly return in which a registered business reports every outward supply it made — effectively its sales register filed with the government.
GSTR-3B: GSTR-3B is the monthly summary return through which a business declares its total sales, claims input tax credit and pays the net GST due.

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