Chhajer Yash & Co.

GSTR-3B: The Return Where Tax Actually Gets Paid

GSTR-1 discloses what was sold. GSTR-3B is where that translates into an actual number owed, and where it actually gets paid. It’s a summary return, not an invoice-level one, and it carries real cash consequences if it’s late, wrong, or skipped.

GST Compliance

What Is GST? A Complete Guide

GSTR-3B

Filing mechanics and portal rules change and can be fact-specific. This article is for general information and does not constitute tax advice.

What It Is and What It Contains

GSTR-3B is the self-assessed summary return filed by every regular registered taxpayer, consolidating outward supplies, reverse-charge inward supplies, ITC claimed, and net tax liability. Unlike GSTR-1, it’s not invoice-level, and it’s the return through which tax is actually paid, out of the electronic cash and credit ledgers.

Due Dates

Monthly filers: 20th of the following month. QRMP quarterly filers: 22nd (Category X states) or 24th (Category Y states) of the following month. Even under QRMP, tax is paid monthly: for the first two months of a quarter, an estimated amount goes through PMT-06 by the 25th, with full reconciliation at the quarterly GSTR-3B.

ITC Is Locked to GSTR-2B

Under Rule 36(4), ITC can only be claimed to the extent it appears in the auto-generated GSTR-2B, built from suppliers’ GSTR-1/IFF filings. The auto-populated figures are increasingly hard-locked, so a mismatch generally has to be fixed at the source (the supplier’s GSTR-1 or a GSTR-1A) rather than by overriding your own return. GSTR-1/IFF for a period generally has to be filed before GSTR-3B for that period, and periods must be filed in sequence.

Interest, Late Fees, and the E-Way Bill Link

Late fee: ₹50/day (₹25+₹25), capped by turnover, or ₹20/day for nil returns. Interest under Section 50 runs at 18% p.a. on net cash liability for a genuine self-filed late payment; a steeper 24% p.a. applies where ITC was both wrongly availed and actually utilised. Under Rule 138E, missing GSTR-3B for two consecutive periods disables e-way bill generation on that GSTIN. GSTR-3B is also covered by the three-year filing cutoff (Finance Act 2023) and cannot be revised once filed — errors get corrected through a later period’s return instead.

FAQs: GSTR-3B

Can GSTR-3B be revised after it’s filed?

No. There’s no formal revision facility. Errors are corrected by adjusting the relevant figures in a later period’s GSTR-3B.

Can GSTR-3B be filed with only part of the tax paid?

No. The cash and credit ledgers need to cover the full computed liability before the return can be submitted.

Does missing GSTR-3B filings affect e-way bill generation?

Yes. Under Rule 138E, failing to file GSTR-3B for two consecutive tax periods disables e-way bill generation on that GSTIN until the pending returns are filed.

When does the higher 24% interest rate actually apply?

Only where ITC was both wrongly availed and actually utilised — not merely claimed and left unused, or claimed and reversed before use.

Does a QRMP taxpayer file GSTR-3B every month or once a quarter?

Once a quarter. Filing frequency and payment frequency are separate under QRMP: tax is deposited monthly via PMT-06, but the return itself is filed only once, for the quarter.

What if GSTR-2B shows less ITC than what was actually paid on a genuine purchase?

That shortfall generally can’t be claimed until the supplier’s GSTR-1/GSTR-1A reflects the invoice correctly, since GSTR-3B’s ITC is drawn from GSTR-2B.

Last updated on 5 August 2026