GST Return Due Dates 2026: GSTR-1, 3B, 9 & 9C

GST return due dates in 2026 follow a fixed monthly and quarterly rhythm: GSTR-1 on the 11th, GSTR-3B on the 20th for monthly filers, and GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C by 31 December for the annual cycle. QRMP filers shift to quarterly returns with tax paid monthly through PMT-06. This page lists every common GST return with its exact date and the turnover threshold that decides which one applies to you.

One caveat before the tables: always confirm a date near the deadline — government extensions are common. CBIC pushes due dates through notifications almost every year, often when the portal is slow or a state faces disruption. Use this list to plan client work, then check the official notification in the final week.

Monthly GST due dates

Most regular taxpayers file monthly. The dates below are the same every month, which makes them easy to build into a workflow. Note that GSTR-1 monthly applies to taxpayers with turnover above ₹5 crore, and to anyone who has not opted into the QRMP scheme.

Return / form	What it is	Due date
GSTR-1	Outward supplies (turnover >₹5cr or non-QRMP)	11th of next month
GSTR-3B	Summary return and tax payment	20th of next month
GSTR-7	TDS return (deductors)	10th of next month
GSTR-8	TCS return (e-commerce operators)	10th of next month

A few practical points:

• GSTR-1 feeds GSTR-3B. Since the liability in GSTR-3B is now auto-populated and locked (more on that below), the data you report in GSTR-1 directly drives what your client pays. File GSTR-1 cleanly first.
• GSTR-7 and GSTR-8 share the 10th. If a client both deducts TDS and runs an e-commerce platform, both fall due the same day. Stagger the work so neither slips.
• The 20th is the cash date. GSTR-3B is where the tax is actually paid, so a missed 20th means interest and late fees, not just a filing default.

There are also less common monthly returns worth keeping on the radar: GSTR-5 for non-resident taxable persons (13th), GSTR-5A for OIDAR service providers (20th), and GSTR-6 for Input Service Distributors (13th). Most small and mid-size practices will not touch these often, but if even one client falls into these categories the date is just as binding as the mainstream ones — and easy to forget precisely because it is rare.

A quick word on late fees and interest, since the dates only matter because of what missing them costs. A delayed GSTR-3B carries interest on the unpaid tax plus a per-day late fee, and a delayed GSTR-1 holds up your buyer’s credit and your own GSTR-3B liability. The point is that GST penalties accrue daily, not as a flat fine, so a return that is three days late and one that is thirty days late are very different problems. Treat every date above as a hard stop.

QRMP scheme due dates

The Quarterly Return Monthly Payment (QRMP) scheme is for taxpayers with aggregate turnover up to ₹5 crore. You file returns quarterly but still pay tax monthly, so the calendar looks different from the standard monthly one.

Return / form	What it is	Due date
GSTR-1 (QRMP)	Outward supplies	13th of month after quarter
IFF	Invoice Furnishing Facility (months 1 and 2)	13th of next month
PMT-06	Tax payment (months 1 and 2)	25th of next month
GSTR-3B (QRMP)	Summary return and tax payment	22nd (Category X) / 24th (Category Y)

Two things trip people up here:

• The state split for GSTR-3B. QRMP filers do not all share one date. Category X states (broadly the southern and western states and most UTs) file by the 22nd; Category Y states (broadly the northern, eastern and central states) file by the 24th. Check which group each client’s principal place of business falls into.
• IFF is optional, PMT-06 is not. The Invoice Furnishing Facility on the 13th lets you push B2B invoices to your buyers in the first two months of a quarter so they get timely credit — useful but not mandatory. PMT-06 on the 25th, however, is how the monthly tax actually gets paid, so it is the date you cannot skip.

QRMP suits small firms with steady, low-complexity sales. If a client’s buyers depend heavily on monthly credit, weigh that against the convenience of quarterly returns before opting in.

Composition scheme (CMP-08 and GSTR-4)

Composition dealers have a much lighter filing load. Instead of regular returns they file a quarterly statement-cum-challan and one annual return.

Return / form	What it is	Due date
CMP-08	Quarterly statement and tax payment	18th of month after quarter
GSTR-4	Annual return	30 June

CMP-08 is the working document each quarter — it both reports turnover and pays the tax. GSTR-4 then wraps up the year, and its 30 June date sits well after the financial year closes, so it is easy to let slide. Because the composition scheme is meant to be simple, the main compliance risk is forgetting these dates entirely, since they come up less often than monthly returns. Put them on a recurring reminder for every composition client, and review eligibility each year — a client whose turnover has grown past the composition limit needs to move to the regular scheme, which changes their entire filing calendar.

Annual returns: GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C

The annual return is where turnover thresholds matter most, and where a lot of last-minute work piles up in December.

Return / form	What it is	Threshold	Due date
GSTR-9	Annual return	Mandatory if turnover >₹2 crore	31 December
GSTR-9C	Reconciliation statement (self-certified)	If turnover >₹5 crore	31 December

How to read the thresholds:

• Below ₹2 crore: GSTR-9 is optional. Many small taxpayers skip it, though filing can still be useful to clean up the year’s record.
• Above ₹2 crore: GSTR-9 is mandatory.
• Above ₹5 crore: both GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C are required. GSTR-9C is now self-certified, meaning the taxpayer certifies the reconciliation between the annual return and the audited accounts rather than relying on a separate audit certification.

Both fall on 31 December, which collides with year-end work and, often, with December GST returns. Reconciling books to the GST portal for GSTR-9C takes time, so start the annual return cycle well before the festive-season slowdown rather than in the final fortnight. As always, confirm near the deadline — government extensions are common, and CBIC has historically pushed the annual return date in several years.

Recent changes you need to know

Two structural changes affect how 2026 filings work, and both can cause errors if your team is still following the old process.

GSTR-3B liability is now hard-locked. From July 2025, the auto-populated tax liability in GSTR-3B is non-editable. You can no longer simply overwrite a figure in 3B. Any correction has to flow through GSTR-1 or GSTR-1A — fix the outward-supply data at source, let it re-populate, then file. In practice this means GSTR-1 accuracy is no longer a nice-to-have; it is the only place to correct your liability. Train staff to slow down on GSTR-1 review rather than relying on a 3B edit later.

ISD is mandatory from 1 April 2025. The Input Service Distributor (ISD) mechanism is now compulsory for distributing common input tax credit on services received at a head office and used across branches. Businesses with multiple registrations that share common input services must route that credit through an ISD registration and file GSTR-6 by the 13th. If a client with multiple GSTINs has not set up ISD, that is a compliance gap to flag now, not at year-end.

Both changes reward firms that keep clean, reconciled data through the year and penalise the habit of fixing everything at filing time.

Staying compliant without missing dates

The dates themselves are simple. The hard part is doing them across dozens or hundreds of clients, each on a different scheme, without anything slipping. That is a tracking problem, and it is where practice management software earns its place.

What actually helps in a CA office:

• A live status board showing, per client, which return is due next and whether it is filed, in progress or stuck.
• Scheme tagging so monthly, QRMP and composition clients are handled with the right dates automatically — including the Category X/Y split for QRMP 3B.
• Reminders that escalate as the 11th, 18th, 20th and 25th approach, rather than a single calendar entry someone can ignore.
• A clean audit trail for who filed what and when, which matters when a notice arrives months later.

You do not strictly need software to do this — a disciplined spreadsheet works for a small practice. But once you cross a few dozen clients, a tool that ties GST due dates to a per-client checklist pays for itself in avoided late fees and fewer frantic 20th-of-the-month evenings. For a full year-round view across GST, income tax, TDS and ROC, see our CA compliance calendar for India.

If you are evaluating tools, two we have reviewed take different approaches. QwikCA is built specifically around Indian CA practice workflows and compliance tracking, and is our top-rated pick — now used by 2,000+ firms; weigh its free trial against your own client mix to see how it handles your filings. Zoho Practice leans on the broader Zoho ecosystem, which suits firms already living inside Zoho Books and related apps. Our side-by-side notes are in the QwikCA vs Zoho Practice comparison, and you can see where each lands against the field in our software rankings. Whatever you pick, the test is simple: does it stop a return from being missed? Start from our homepage if you want the wider buyer’s guide, and browse more GST guides for filing-specific walkthroughs.

No tool removes the standing rule, though. Every date above can move, so build your workflow to confirm the official notification in the last week — government extensions are common, and the firms that get caught are usually the ones that trusted memory over the circular.