How to File GSTR-1?
Different taxpayers are required to file different types of GST Returns. However, all registered taxpayers are required to file GSTR-1, either monthly or quarterly, depending on the size of their business and the filing frequency chosen by them.
GSTR-1 contains details of all the outward supplies (i.e. sales) made by registered taxpayers during the applicable period (preceding month for regular taxpayers and preceding quarter under the QRMP Scheme).
In this article, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to file the GSTR-1 Return on the GST Portal.
Steps to file GSTR-1 Return on GST Portal
Typically, GSTR-1 is due on the eleventh of the following month. The deadline for quarterly filers is the 13th day of the month after the quarter. Taxpayers can file GSTR-1 Return on the GST Portal.
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to file a GSTR-1 return.
Step 1: Go to the GST Portal
Step 2: Go to ‘Services’. From the drop down menu, select ‘Returns’, then ‘Returns Dashboard’
Step 3: You will be directed to the Returns filing page. From the drop-down menu, select the financial year and month you want to file the GST Return. Click on ‘Search’.
Step 4: You will now see the page showing “Option form for quarterly return filing by normal taxpayer.”
Step 5: Select “yes” or “no” for each of the following questions, as appropriate: “Whether your aggregate turnover during the Previous Financial Year was up to Rs. 1.5 Crores” or “Do you expect your aggregate turnover during the Current Financial Year to be up to Rs. 1.5 Crores?”.
If you answered “yes” to the first question, decide whether you want to file your tax returns quarterly by choosing “yes” or “no” to the second question.
Press the submit button if you answer yes.
An on-screen pop-up will appear to confirm the submission of the quarterly return. Click on proceed.
A success message will appear.
Step 6: Should the answer be No, press the submit button.
An on-screen pop-up will appear to confirm the submission of monthly returns. Click on proceed.
A success message will appear.
Step 7: Press the submit button if the answer to the first question is no.
A pop-up message will be displayed. Click Proceed.
Step 8: Updating the preferred frequency of return filing: If a taxpayer wants to alter the preferred frequency of return filing, they should follow these instructions:
Select “Edit” from the menu.
Then modify the preference as necessary, and click “Submit.”
You will see a message stating that the frequency of return filing has changed. Click “Close.” The return filer has two options on the GSTR-1 return page: prepare the return online or offline. Let’s examine the online return preparation procedure. Then select “Prepare online.”
Step 9: You will be directed to the details of suppliers of goods or services to third parties. The following information must be entered here:
- Total revenue for the previous financial year.
- Total Turnover during the quarter.
Additional Steps if E-Invoicing is Applicable
If e-invoicing is applicable to your business, then it is mandatory for you to create e-invoices for your B2B transactions.
Follow the steps as shown below, and read our guide to edit e-invoice data in GSTR-1.
Add Details of B2B Invoices
Here, you need to enter details of all the B2B invoices.
Step 1: Click on the tile labelled ‘4A, 4B, 4C, 6B, 6C – B2B Invoices’.
Step 2: Add a new invoice by selecting the “Add Invoice” option.
Step 3: Enter the following details on the invoice creation page:
- Check the appropriate boxes for the following:
- Deemed Exports
- SEZ (Special Economic Zones) Supplies with Payment
- SEZ Supplies Without Payment.
- Input the receiver’s GSTIN/UIN, which will automatically populate the Receivers Name, POS, and Supply Type fields.
- Enter the Invoice No., Invoice Date, and Invoice Value as well.
- Check the box for reverse charge or e-commerce operator supply, if applicable.
- Enter the Taxable Value for supplies made in the taxable value field. The system will calculate the amount of tax based on intra-state or inter-state transactions.
Save the invoice once all the details are entered.
Step 4: You can view a summary of all entered invoices and edit or delete invoices in the “Actions” tab.
Step 5: You can also choose to return to the Invoices-Receiver Wise Summary page by clicking the “BACK” button. Add an invoice for a specific receiver by clicking on their details and selecting the “Add Invoice” option at the bottom of the page.
Step 6: Access the GSTR-1 page by clicking on the ‘BACK’ button. The tile labelled ‘B2B Invoices’ will reflect the total number of invoices added, along with the total invoice value, the total taxable value, and the total tax liability.
Add Details of B2C Invoices
Here, you need to enter the details of all the outward supplies made where the value of the invoice is greater than ₹2.5 lakhs.
Step 1: Click on the tile labelled ‘5A, 5B – B2C (Large) Invoices’.
Step 2: On the B2C (Large) Invoices page, click on the Add Invoice button to begin.
Step 3: On the following page, enter the details as mentioned below:
- Select the state of delivery in the POS field to auto-populate the supply type.
- Enter the invoice number, date, and total invoice value.
- If the supply is made through an e-commerce operator, select the “Is E-commerce” checkbox.
- Enter the taxable value of supplies made in the taxable value field, and the amount of tax will be auto-calculated based on inter-state or intrastate transactions.
Save the details once they are entered.
Step 4: You will be taken to a page showing the summary of all the entered invoices. Edit or delete invoices using the Actions menu.
Step 5: To return to the GSTR-1 page, click the Back button. The tile labelled ‘5A, 5B – B2C (Large) Invoices’ will now show the total number of invoices added, along with the total invoice value, taxable value, and tax liability.
Add Details of Credit and Debit Notes
For Registered Debit and Credit Notes
Here, you need to enter the details of debit and credit notes you have issued to dealers who are registered under GST.
Step 1: Click on the tile labelled ‘9B – Credit / Debit Notes (Registered)’
Step 2: On the summary page, select “Add Details” to add a credit or a debit note.
Step 3: Enter the following details on the page:
- Receiver’s GSTIN (name will auto-populate)
- Debit/Credit note number and date
- Original invoice number and date (for which the note is issued)
- Note type (debit, credit or refund voucher)
- Note value and reason for issuing the note
- If the original invoice was issued before GST was implemented i.e. before 1st July 2017, tick on “Pre-GST Regime” check box
- Taxable value of goods or services in the taxable value field. Based on the type of transaction (intrastate or interstate), CGST and SGST or IGST will appear in the field labelled ‘Amount of tax’. The amount of tax is auto calculated based on the taxable value entered.
Remember to click ‘Save’ after all the above details have been entered.
Click on the “Back” button to return to the GSTR-1 page. Here you will be able to see the summary of all the added debit and/or credit notes and/or refund vouchers.
For Unregistered Credit and Debit Notes
Here, you need to enter the details of credit and debit notes you have issued to dealers who are not registered under GST.
Step 1: Click on the tile labelled ‘Credit / Debit Notes (Unregistered)’
Step 2: You will be taken to the summary page. Click on the ‘Add Details’ button to add a credit or debit note.
Step 3: On this page, there are several details that need to be filled out, as follows:
- First, select the appropriate type from the dropdown options such as B2CL or export without payment.
- Next, enter the Debit/Credit Note number and date. In the Original Invoice Number and Date field, enter the invoice number and date of the invoice against which the debit or credit note has been issued.
- Then, in the Note Type dropdown, select whether the details that have been added are those for a debit note, for a credit note, or for a refund voucher. Enter the Note Value and Reason for the Issue of Note.
- If the original invoice was issued before July 1, 2017, check the box labelled ‘Pre-GST Regime’.
- Enter the Taxable Value of the goods and/or services in the field labelled ‘taxable value’.
- The amount of tax, either CGST and SGST or IGST, will appear in the tax field based on whether it is an interstate or intrastate transaction. The amount of tax is automatically calculated based on the taxable value entered.
Finally, click on the save button once all details are entered.
Step 4: Here, you can view a summary of all the debit notes, credit notes, or refund vouchers issued to unregistered dealers that have been added.
Add Details for Amendments
Exports Invoices
Here, you will need to add the details of all invoices for the exports you have made.
Follow the steps below:
Step 1: To begin, click on the tile labelled “6A – Exports Invoices.”
Step 2: Once the summary page appears, click on the “Add Invoice” button to add the details of the exports invoices.
Step 3: In this section, the following details must be entered:
- Input the invoice number, invoice date, and port code details in the respective fields.
- Next, input the details of the shipping bill number and date.
- Then, in the field labelled “Total Invoice Value”, enter the total amount of all the goods and/or services that have been supplied.
- From the GST Payment dropdown, select whether GST has been paid or not.
- Enter the taxable value, and the IGST amount will be automatically calculated.
Finally, click on the save button to save the entered details.
Step 4: Click on the back button to return to the GSTR-1 page. Here, you will be able to see a summary of all the export invoices that have been added.
Amendment of B2B Invoices
Here, you can make amendments to any details of outward supplies entered while filing previous returns.
Step 1: Begin by clicking on the tile labelled “9A – Amended B2B Invoices”.
Step 2: Select the correct financial year from the dropdown, and enter the invoice number that needs to be amended from the earlier tax period. Then click on the “Amend Invoice” button.
Step 3: Enter the new invoice number in the field labelled “Revised Invoice Number”. Then, select the revised invoice date from the calendar and make any other necessary changes. Finally, click on “Save.” After saving, you will be taken back to the previous page, and you should see a message saying ‘Request accepted successfully’ as shown below.
Step 4: Click on “Back” to go to the GSTR-1 landing page, where the tile labelled “9A – Amended B2B Invoices” in the GSTR-1 section will reflect the number of invoices that have been amended, along with the total tax liability. When paying your due tax amount for the current period, you are only required to pay the tax due on the differential tax amount.
Amendment of B2C Large Invoices
Step 1: Start by clicking on the tile labelled ‘9A – Amended B2C (large) invoice’.
Step 2: From the drop-down list, select the relevant financial year and enter the invoice number that needs to be amended from an earlier tax period. Once done, click on the ‘Amend invoice’ button.
Step 3: Next, input the revised or original invoice number for the invoice that requires amending. Select the revised/original date from the calendar and make any necessary amendments to the invoice. Finally, click on ‘Save’.
Once you have completed these steps, you will be taken back to the previous page, and you should see the message ‘Request accepted successfully’ as shown below.
The GSTR-1 landing page will also indicate the number of invoices amended and the total tax liability. Note that your tax liability in the current tax period extends only to the tax due on the differential tax amount.
Amendment of Export Invoices
Step 1: Start by clicking on the tile labelled ‘9A – Amended export invoices’.
Step 2: From the drop-down list, select the relevant financial year and enter the invoice number that needs to be amended from an earlier tax period. Once done, click on the ‘Amend invoice’ button.
Step 3: Next, input the revised or original invoice number for the invoice that requires amending. Select the date from the calendar and make any necessary amendments to the invoice. Finally, click on ‘Save’.
Once you’ve completed these steps, you will be taken to the previous page. You will see the message ‘Request accepted successfully’ as shown below.
On the GSTR-1 landing page, the tile labelled ‘9A – Amended export invoices’ will reflect the number of invoices amended and the total tax liability. Your tax liability for the current tax period is only the tax due on the differential tax amount.
Amendment of Registered and Unregistered Debit and Credit Notes
We will show you the steps to make amendments to registered debit and credit notes, but the steps to amend unregistered debit and credit notes are exactly the same. You only need to select the tiles with the respective labels.
Below are the steps to amend debit and credit notes:
Step 1: Begin by clicking on the tile labelled ‘9C – Amended credit/debit notes (Registered)’.
Step 2: Select the relevant financial year and enter the credit/debit note number that needs to be amended from an earlier tax period. Once done, click on the ‘Amend note’ button.
Step 3: Update the credit/debit note number with the revised information. Select the date from the calendar and make any necessary amendments to the note. Finally, click on the ‘Save’ button.
Upon completing the above steps, you will be redirected to the previous page, where you will see the message ‘Request accepted successfully’ as shown below.
Click on the ‘Back’ button. On the GSTR-1 landing page, the tile labelled ‘9C – Amended credit note/debit note (Registered)’ will be updated with the number of amended notes and the taxable value. Your tax liability for the current tax period is only the differential tax amount i.e.amended debit notes minus amended credit notes.
Other B2C Invoices
Step 1: Navigate to the tile labelled ‘7 – B2C Others’ in the GSTR-1 portal.
Step 2: Depending on whether the transaction was conducted through E-commerce or not, select either the E-commerce tab or the Other than E-commerce tab. Then, click on the ‘Add Details’ button located at the bottom right corner of the page.
Step 3: Enter the following details:
- The field labelled ‘POS’ is meant to show the Place of Supply. Here, select the state code in which the supply was delivered. The ‘Supply Type’ field will be auto-populated.
- Enter the value of the taxable supplies made.
- Select the applicable GST rate.
- If the transaction was conducted through an e-commerce operator, enter their GSTIN.
Click on ‘Save’ when the above information has been entered.
Step 4: To view the summary of B2C others invoices, click on the ‘Back’ button to return to the GSTR-1 landing page.
Nil Rated Supplies
Step 1: Click on the tile labelled ‘8A, 8B, 8C, 8D – Nil Rated Supplies’.
Step 2: Click on the “Edit” button
Step 3: Enter the amount for Nil Rated Supplies, Exempted Supplies (other than Nil rated/non-GST), and Non-GST Supplies for the following categories:
- Inter-state supply to a registered dealer
- Inter-state supply to an unregistered dealer
- Intra-state supply to a registered dealer
- Intra-state supply to an unregistered dealer
Step 4: Once you click the ‘Save’ button, a message saying “Request accepted successfully” will appear at the top.
Step 5: Click on the “Back” button to return to the GSTR-1 page, where you can view a summary of all the nil rated supplies made.
Tax Liability (Advances Received)
Step 1: Click on the tile labelled ‘11A(1), 11A(2) – Tax Liability (Advances Received)’
Step 2: Click on the “Add Details” button located at the bottom right of the page.
Step 3: Enter the Place of Supply (State Code) where the supply was delivered. The Supply Type field will be automatically populated.
Next, input the Gross Advance Received. The IGST, CGST, and SGST will be calculated based on the supply type (inter-state or intra-state).
Click on the “Save” button.
Step 4: Click on the “Back” button to return to the GSTR-1 page. The summary of the adjustment of advances will be displayed.
11B(1), 11B(2) – Adjustment of Advances
Step 1: Click on the tile labelled ‘11B(1), 11B(2) – Adjustment of Advances’.
Step 2: Click on the “Add Details”
Step 3: Enter the following details:
- Select the state code for the Place of Supply (POS) from the drop-down menu.
- Enter the amount received as an advance in the “Gross Advance Adjusted” field.
- The IGST, CGST, and SGST will be auto-calculated based on the POS selection.
Click on the “Save” button.
Step 4: Click on the “Back” button to return to the GSTR-1 page, where you can view the summary of the adjustment of advances.
HSN Codes
Step 1 – Navigate to the tile labelled ‘HSN-wise summary of outward supplies’.
Step 2 – Click on the ‘Add Details’
Step 3 – Fill in the following details on the page:
- The HSN Code of the outward supplies made
- The description of the outward supplies made
- Quantity of supplies in the ‘UQC’ drop-down list. ‘UQC’ stands for ‘Unique Quantity Code’. For example, KGs, Litres, PAC etc.
- The total quantity, the total value, and the total taxable value of the outward supplies that have been made.
- Enter the applicable IGST or CGST and SGST based on the type of sale made, i.e. interstate or intrastate
Click on the Add button and then save the details by clicking on the Save button on the next page.
Step 4 – Go back to the GSTR-1 page by clicking on the back button. Here you can view the summary of HSN-wise outward supplies.
Documents Issued
Step 1 – Navigate to the tile labelled ‘Documents Issued’ and click on it.
Step 2 – Select Add Document to begin entering the document details.
Step 3 – Choose the appropriate category from the 12 available categories and enter the serial number of the invoice issued, the total number of invoices issued, and the number of cancelled invoices in their respective fields. The net invoices field will be automatically populated.
Step 4 – Once all document details have been entered, click on the ‘Save’ button to save the information.
Amended Tax Liability (Advance Received)
Step 1: Click on the tile labelled ‘11A – Amended Tax Liability’
Step 2: Select the appropriate financial year, place of supply and return filing period. Then click on ‘Amend Invoice’.
Step 3: Make the necessary amendments and click ‘Save’. Note that you cannot change the place of supply.
You will then be taken back to the previous page, and you should see a message saying ‘Request accepted successfully’ as shown below
Click on ‘Back’ to go to the GSTR-1 landing page. Here, you can see the number of amended invoices and the taxable value reflected in the tile labelled ‘11A – Amended Tax Liability (Advance Received)’. Your tax liability for the current period is limited to the tax on the differential tax liability.
Note: The steps above are the same for the tiles labelled ‘11B – Amendment of Adjustment of Advances’ and ‘10 – Amended B2C (Others)’
This completes all the additional steps required if e-invoicing is applicable to your business. You can now move on to generating the summary of GSTR-1
Generate the Summary of GSTR-1
Generate the summary of GSTR-1 by clicking on the ‘Generate GSTR-1 Summary’ button at the bottom of the page. This includes all auto-populated details for which action is yet to be taken by the recipients.
A message will appear indicating that the summary is being generated, and it will take approximately one minute.
Once the summary is generated, a success message will appear at the top of the page. You can update the summary by clicking on the ‘Generate GSTR-1 Summary’ button again.
Note that the summary is generated automatically by the GST Portal every 30 minutes. If you want to view the summary right after adding invoices, you can click on the ‘Generate GSTR-1 Summary’ button, but this can only be done once every 10 minutes. If you try to generate another summary within 10 minutes of having generated one previously, you will get an error message, as shown below.
Preview GSTR-1
The same page that has the ‘Generate GSTR-1 Summary’ button also has a ‘Preview’ button. If you click it, a draft of the GSTR-1 return summary will be downloaded for your review. It is very important to review the summary of the entries made in various sections before submitting the GSTR-1.
Submit GSTR-1
Next to the ‘Preview’ button is the ‘Submit’ button. To submit the GSTR-1 return, select the acknowledgement checkbox to confirm that you have reviewed the details and that the information is correct. Note that you will not be able to make changes after you have submitted your GSTR-1 Return. On checking the acknowledgement box, you should see the submit button be enabled. Click it to submit your Return. A pop-up will appear asking you to confirm your submission. Click on ‘Proceed’ to confirm. Now, the status of the GSTR-1 will change to ‘Submitted’.
File GSTR-1
To file the GSTR-1 return, click on the ‘File Return’ button. Choose ‘File with DSC’ or ‘File with EVC’ as applicable. If you choose DSC mode, select the digital signature. If you choose EVC mode, enter the OTP sent to the mobile number and email address of the authorised signatory. Once the filing is successful, a success message and the ARN will be displayed.
