How to file Annual GSTR 9 Return- Online and Offline

Introduction

What is GSTR 9?

Form GSTR-9 is an annual return to be filed once for each financial year, by the registered taxpayers who are regular taxpayers, including SEZ units and SEZ developers. The taxpayers are required to furnish details of purchases, sales, input tax credit or refund claimed or demand created etc.

The person who must file GSTR-9

There can be 3 case in which a taxpayer is required to file GSTR-9 for a financial year:

A registered taxpayer who is a normal taxpayer including SEZ units and SEZ developers.
A composition taxpayer who opted out of the scheme in the middle of the year and continues to be registered under GST.
A taxpayer who transitioned from VAT to GST in the first financial year of GST implementation.

Annual return in Form GSTR-9 is required to be filed by every taxpayer registered as normal taxpayer during the relevant financial year unless exempted by Government through notification. All applicable statements of Forms GSTR-1/IFF and returns in Form GSTR-3B of the financial year should have been filed before filing GSTR-9. In case, you are required to file GSTR-9C (Reconciliation statement and Certification), the same shall be enabled on the dashboard post filing of GSTR-9. GSTR-9 can be filed online. It can also be prepared on Offline tool and then uploaded on the Portal and filed.

NIL GSTR-9 RETURN can be filed under following circumstances, if you have:

Not made any outward supply (commonly known as sale); AND
Not received any inward supplies (commonly known as purchase) of goods/services; AND
No liability of any kind; AND
Not claimed any Credit during the Financial Year; AND
Not received any order creating demand; AND
Not claimed any refund.
during the Financial Year

If a person opts for Offline GSTR9 filing following steps are a requirement;

If number of records/lines either in Table-17 or Table-18 are more than 500 records per table, then you should prepare your return by using the offline utility only and the same can be subsequently uploaded on Common Portal. You can download the GSTR-9 offline tool from the Downloads section in the pre-login page on the portal and install it on your computer.

If a person opts for online process of filling GSTR 9 then refer to the following steps;

Step 1: Search for GST PORTAL and click on www.gst.gov.in

Step 2: Login

Step 3 : On the page of ‘File Annual Returns’ , select the ‘Financial Year.’

Step 4: An important message will appear, outlining the steps to be taken for GSTR-9 Online/Offline filing. Select ‘Prepare Online.’

After Clicking on Prepare Online,

Select from the questionnaire page, whether you wish to file NIL Annual return;
You may download the draft of system generated GSTR-9, summary of GSTR-1/IFF and summary of GSTR-3B from GSTR-9 dashboard for your reference;
If number of records/lines are less than or equal to 500 records per table in Table 17 and Table 18, then you may use the online facility;
Fill in the details in different tables and click on Compute Liabilities; and
Click on Proceed to file and File GSTR-9 with DSC/EVC.
Additional liability, if any, declared in this return can be paid through Form GST DRC-03 by selecting Annual Return from the cause of payment dropdown in the said form. Such liability can be paid only through cash.

Step 5: Fill out a questionnaire to choose between a NIL return and an annual data return. By clicking ‘Yes‘ or ‘No,’ you can declare whether you want to file a Nil return for the fiscal year. Select ‘Yes’ only if all of the following criteria are met.

No outward supply
- There is no receipt of goods/services
- No other liability to report
- Not claimed any credit
- No refund claimed
- No demand order received
- Late fees not required to be paid

If you choose ‘Yes’ to file NIL returns, then click on ‘Next’ to Compute Liabilities and file a NIL GSTR-9. If you choose ‘No’ to NIL returns, click on ‘Next’, a page ‘GSTR-9 Annual Return for normal taxpayers’ is displayed. It will contain various tiles for which details must be filled.

Step 6 : Click on all the three tabs to download:

GSTR- 9 System Computed Summary

GSTR-1 Summary

GSTR-3B Summary

The downloaded summaries will help taxpayers with the details to be provided in various tables of GSTR9.

Enter requisite details in various tables for the financial year

Details of advances, inward and outward supplies made during the financial year on which tax is payable- Table 4N, Click on the box. The details will be auto-populated on the basis of information provided in GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B.

Click ‘Yes’ to accept the details.
A confirmation message will appear ‘Save request is accepted successfully’.
Go back to the ‘GSTR-9 Dashboard’. The 4N box will be updated. Similarly, for the rest of the tables mentioned below, fill in the required information and follow the same steps to save the data,

Details of outward supplies made during the financial year on which tax is not payable- Table 5
ITC availed details during the financial year – Table 6
Details of ITC reversed and Ineligible ITC for the financial year – Table 7
Other ITC related information – Table 8
Details of tax paid as declared in returns filed during the financial year –Table 9
Details of the previous Financial Year’s transactions reported in the next Financial Year – Table 10, 11, 12 & 13
Differential tax paid on account of declaration- Table 10 & 11
Particulars of Demands and Refunds- Table 15
Supplies received from Composition taxpayers, deemed supply by job worker and goods sent on approval basis –Table 16
HSN wise summary of Outward Supplies- Table 17
HSN wise summary of Inward Supplies –Table 18

Step 7: Click on Compute liabilities and late fees

When you click compute liabilities, the GST portal will process all of the information in the various tables. It also computes late fees if a return is not filed on time.Thereafter, a confirmation message will appear, allowing you to proceed with the filing. The taxpayer can make the payment using funds from the electronic cash ledger. If there are insufficient funds in the cash ledger, an additional payment can be made via Net banking, over the counter, or NEFT/RTGS by generating an additional payment challan. GSTR-9 cannot be filed until the late fee, if applicable, has been paid. A taxpayer should preview the draft GSTR-9 in PDF/Excel format once more by following the same steps given above

Step 8: Preview draft GSTR-9 in excel or PDF format

A taxpayer can preview the form in PDF/Excel format. For preview in PDF format:
Click Preview GSTR-9 (PDF) on the GSTR-9 dashboard.

A draft will be downloaded, and if the taxpayer feels that any changes are required, they can do so by making changes to GSTR-9 online and then regenerating the draft.

Step 9: Proceed to file GSTR-9

Check the declaration box, and then check the ‘Authorised Signatory’ box.
Click the ‘File GSTR-9’ button.
A page for Submitting Application will be displayed, with two filing options.
File with the DSC: The taxpayer must search for and select the certificate.
Sign and submit the form.
File with the EVC: An OTP will be delivered to the registered email address and mobile phone number.
Verify the OTP. The status of the return changes to ‘Filed’ after successful validation.

Step 10

An ARN will be generated once the Annual Return is filed. For the successful filing of the return, the taxpayer receives a confirmation message via SMS and email. GSTR-9 cannot be amended after it has been filed. There is no way to correct the errors in the annual returns so ensure you make a thorough check before filing. It is advisable to keep all the workings and reconciliations ready depending on GSTR1 , GSTR3B and auto populated GSTR9 well in advance before filing the GSTR9 annual return.

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