Notes on Annual return under GST Law- GSTR-9 -Annual Return Filing, Format, Eligibility & Rules.

An annual return has to be filed once in a year by the registered taxpayers under GST including those registered under composition levy scheme.

GSTR-9 is an Annual Return to be filed by the persons registered under the GST. In this article, we discuss the following topics in detail:

What is GSTR 9: GSTR 9 is an annual return to be filed once in a year by the registered taxpayers under GST including those registered under composition levy scheme. It consists of details regarding the supplies made and received during the year under different tax heads i.e. CGST, SGST and IGST. It consolidates the information furnished in the monthly/quarterly returns during the year.

Who should file GSTR 9: All the registered taxable persons under GST must file GSTR 9. However, following persons are not required to file GSTR 9

• Casual Taxable Person
• Input service distributors
• Non-resident taxable persons
• Persons paying TDS under section 51 of GST Act.

Different types of return under GSTR 9 :There are 4 types of return under GSTR 9

• GSTR 9- GSTR 9 should be filed by the regular taxpayers filing GSTR 1, GSTR 2, GSTR 3.
• GSTR 9A – GSTR 9A should be filed by the persons registered under composition scheme under GST.
• GSTR 9B– GSTR 9B should be filed by the e-commerce operators who have filed GSTR 8 during the financial year.
• GSTR 9C – GSTR 9C should be filed by the taxpayers whose annual turn over exceeds Rs2 crores during the financial year. All such taxpayers are also required to get their accounts audited and file a copy of audited annual accounts and reconciliation statement of tax already paid and tax payable as per audited accounts along with GSTR 9C.

Due Date to file GSTR 9: GSTR-9 shall be filed on or before 31st December of the subsequent financial year.For instance for FY 2017-18, the due date for filing GSTR 9 is 31st December, 2018.

What is the penalty for the late filing of GSTR 9: Late fees for not filing the GSTR 9 within the due date is Rs. 100 per day per act up to a maximum of an amount calculated at a quarter percent of the taxpayer turnover in the state or union territory. Thus it is Rs 100 under CGST & 100 under SGST, total penalty is Rs 200 per day of default. There is no late fee on IGST.

Details to be provided in GSTR 9:

1. Provide GSTIN: Each taxpayer will be allotted a state-wise PAN-based 15-digit Goods and Services Taxpayer Identification Number (GSTIN). GSTIN of the taxpayer will be auto-populated at the time of return filing.
2. Legal name of the registered person: Name of the taxpayer will be auto-populated at the time of logging into the common GST Portal.
3. Whether liable to Statutory Audit: Statutory audit is compulsory in case of companies and in case of individual/HUF if turnover exceeds Rs 1 crore.
4. Date of statutory Audit: Mention the date of the statutory audit.
5. Auditors: Mention the name of the auditors of the entity who has audited the accounts of the entity.
6. Details of Expenditure: Details of goods and services purchased during the financial year must be provided. Such information needs to be provided along with the HSN/ SAC codes applicable and the taxable value of such goods and services. These details are mentioned in GSTR 2. This information is divided into following head

A. Total value of purchases on which ITC availed (inter-State).

B. Total value of purchases on which ITC availed (intra-State).

C. Total value of purchases on which ITC availed (Imports).

D. Other Purchases on which no ITC availed.

E. Sales Return.

F. Other Expenditure (Expenditure other than purchases)

7. Details of income: Details of all supplies and sales made during the year needs to be provided here. Such details are also mentioned in GSTR 1.These categories are as follows :

a) Total value of supplies on which GST paid (inter-State Supplies) : It includes the supplies made in other states on which IGST is paid.

b) Total value of supplies on which GST Paid (intra-State Supplies) :It includes supplies within the state on which SGST and CGST is paid.

c) Total value of supplies on which GST Paid (Exports):It includes export of goods and services made during the year on which IGST is paid

d) Total value of supplies on which no GST Paid (Exports) : It includes export of goods and services made during the year on which no IGST is paid

e) Value of Other Supplies on which no GST paid : It includes the details of supply of goods and services made during the year without any GST paid on it. i.e CGST and SGST in case of intra supply and IGST in case of inter state supply.

f) Purchase Returns : Detail of purchase return made during the year is to be provided here.

g) Other Income (Income other than from supplies) : Any other income earned during the year other than supplies mentioned in above points should be mentioned here.

8. Return Reconciliation Statement:After furnishing all the information, the system will auto-reconcile the transactions and will determine tax liability payable against the tax actually paid. The system will also populate the amount of tax difference, interest, penalty if any.

9. Other:If there is any other payable the same will be auto-populated here. It may include arrears or any liability because of the assessment.

10. Profit as per the Profit and Loss Statement

In this section, mention the breakup of gross-profit, profit after tax and net profit.

• Gross Profit
• Profit after tax
• Net Profit

NOTE: Once all the particulars are furnished correctly, the taxpayer is required to sign digitally either through a digital signature certificate (DSC) or Aadhar based signature verification to authenticate the return.