GSTR-1: the details of your sales
GSTR-1 lists the sales you made in the period, invoice by invoice for business customers and in summary for consumers. It also reports credit and debit notes. The details you file here appear in your customers’ records, which is how they claim input tax credit.
Because your customers depend on it, an error in GSTR-1 becomes their problem as well as yours.
GSTR-3B: the summary and the payment
GSTR-3B is the summary return. It states your total sales and tax, the input tax credit you are claiming and the tax you are paying. This is the return where the money moves.
The totals in GSTR-3B should agree with the sales you reported in GSTR-1 and with the credit shown to you from your suppliers’ returns.
GSTR-9: the annual return
GSTR-9 is the yearly return that brings the year together. It reconciles what you reported month by month with your books. Whether it is required, and in what form, depends on your turnover and your registration type, so confirm what applies to you each year.
Habits that prevent most problems
Most GST trouble comes from numbers that do not match, not from the forms themselves.
- Reconcile your sales register with GSTR-1 before filing.
- Compare your purchase records with the credit shown in your supplier-reported statement before claiming input credit.
- Pay the tax you owe in cash or credit before filing GSTR-3B, and keep the challans.
- Correct errors in the next period’s return as the rules allow, instead of leaving them.
- Keep the annual reconciliation in mind from April, not at the end of the year.
Quick answers
Which return do I file first?
GSTR-1 reports your sales and is generally filed before GSTR-3B, which summarises and pays the tax.
Can I skip a return if I had no sales?
No. A nil return still needs to be filed for the period. We help you file nil returns correctly.
This article is general information, not advice for your situation. Rules, limits and due dates change, so we confirm the current position before you act on it.