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GST returns
The Returns page of the GST invoices app works out your monthly returns from the invoices and credit notes you issued: the GSTR-1 file you upload on the GST portal, and the GSTR-3B figures you type in.
Nothing is filed for you. You (or your CA) still upload the file and submit the returns on gst.gov.in with your own login and OTP.
Open it
Apps › GST invoices › Returns. At the top:
- GST number: shown when your store has more than one. Each GST number files its own returns, so pick one at a time.
- Month: last month is picked for you, since that is the one due.
Check before you upload
The Check before you upload card lists anything the portal would reject or that you should know about, with the invoice numbers:
- Missing or short HSN code: the portal needs at least 4 digits (6 if your turnover was over ₹5 crore). Add it to the product, then issue a credit note and a fresh invoice if the invoice already went out.
- B2B invoice with an invalid buyer GSTIN: the portal rejects it. Fix the GSTIN.
- Business name with no GSTIN: the order named a company but gave no GSTIN, so it is reported as a sale to a consumer. If the buyer is registered, add the GSTIN on the order before the month is filed.
- Cancelled this month: counted as cancelled in the document summary (Table 13), left out of every other table. If you uploaded them to the portal earlier, delete them there.
- Cancelled after the month was marked filed: amend or delete them on the portal.
- Credit notes whose invoice could not be found: left out of the file; add them on the portal by hand.
- Composition scheme: composition dealers file CMP-08 and GSTR-4, not GSTR-1.
GSTR-1
The GSTR-1 card shows each table with its documents and amounts:
| Table | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| 4A B2B | Invoices to a buyer with a GSTIN |
| 5 B2C large | Inter-state sales to unregistered buyers over ₹1 lakh |
| 6A Exports | Export invoices, with or without IGST |
| 7 B2C small | Every other sale to consumers, by state and rate, less their credit notes |
| 8 Nil rated | Items at 0% GST |
| 9B Credit notes | Credit notes against B2B invoices (registered) and B2C large or export invoices (unregistered) |
| 12 HSN summary | Every HSN code and rate, split B2B and B2C, less credit notes |
| 13 Documents issued | First and last number, total and cancelled, per series |
Downloads:
- GSTR-1 JSON: upload it on the portal: Returns › GSTR-1 › Prepare offline › Upload. Check the summary the portal shows matches this page, then submit.
- GSTR-1 summary (CSV): the totals per table, to open in Excel or send your CA.
- GSTR-1 tables (CSV zip): one CSV per table in the offline tool’s layout, if your CA prefers to import them into the offline tool.
GSTR-3B
The GSTR-3B card is laid out like the portal’s tiles, worked out from the same GSTR-1 so the two always agree:
- 3.1(a) outward taxable supplies: taxable value, IGST, CGST and SGST, after credit notes.
- 3.1(b) zero rated: exports.
- 3.1(c) nil rated and exempted.
- 3.2 inter-state sales to unregistered buyers, by state. The portal now fills 3.2 from your GSTR-1 and does not let you edit it, so just check it matches.
Download it as CSV or PDF to keep beside the portal.
Input tax credit (Table 4) is not included: the store does not record the GST on your purchases. Take it from your GSTR-2B on the portal.
After you file
Under Filing status, select Mark filed for the month. Its invoices can then only be corrected by a credit note, or an amendment in a later return. Close period stops anyone issuing or backdating an invoice into that month.