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GSTR-9

Filing GSTR-9

Introduction

Using Octa GST you can prepare annual GST return (GSTR-9) quickly and accurately. Every registered tax payer under regular scheme is required to file annual GST return.

Prepare GSTR-9 in Octa GST

GSTR-9 is a summary returns with consolidated information related to sales and purchase transactions. Most of the information to be reported in GSTR-9 can be calculated from:

  • GSTR-1 filed in the financial year and next financial year
  • GSTR-3B filed in the financial year

Whereas there are other sections which needs to reported based on:

  • GSTR-2A data of financial year and next financial year
  • Sales & purchase transactions
  • TRAN-1, TRAN-2 returns (if applicable)

GSTR-9 return contains many tables and it is infeasible to prepare it manually except in simplest of cases where the number of transactions are zero or very few. You may use one the following two methods to start with auto-calculated GSTR-9 data:

  • Add GST returns in Octa GST and calculate GSTR-9
  • Import GSTR-9 data calculated by GST Portal

These methods are described in detail below:

Calculate GSTR-9 using Octa

Octa GST supports the auto-calculation of GSTR-9 based on the GST returns filed during and after the financial year. In order to use this facility, you will need to add the various return files in Octa GST. Please follow below steps to add the return files:

You can use Octa Portal to quickly download the GST returns from GST Portal.

Add GSTR-1

  • Download the GSTR-1 JSON files of current and next financial year from GST Portal. For 2017-18 financial year, you need to add GSTR-1 files of Jul-2017 to Mar-2019 period.
  • Go to GSTR-1 page in Octa GST and click on the Add button to add the GSTR-1 return files. You can add all files in one go.

Add GSTR-2A

  • Download the GSTR-2A JSON files of current and next financial year from GST Portal. Please note that you need to download JSON files (not Excel files). For 2017-18 financial year, you need to add GSTR-2A files of Jul-2017 to Mar-2019 period.
  • Go to GSTR-2A page in Octa GST and click on the Add button to add the GSTR-2A files. You can add all files in one go.

Add GSTR-3B

  • Download the GSTR-3B JSON files from GST Portal for the whole financial year. GST Portal does not directly support downloading JSON file of GSTR-3B. Therefore, you will need to use Octa Portal to download GSTR-3B ZIP/JSON files. For financial year 2017-18, you need to add GSTR-3B files of Jul-2017 to Mar-2018 period.
  • Go to GSTR-3B page in Octa GST and click on the Add button to add the GSTR-3B return files. You can add all files in one go.

Once the pre-requisites data has been added in Octa GST, go to GSTR-9 page. Select the GSTIN and financial year for which you wish to prepare GSTR-9. This page will show you an overview of all relevant data that has been added. If you missed adding some data by mistake, you can easily spot such mistakes on this page.

Simply click on Prepare GSTR-9 button and a live preview of GSTR-9 will be shown.

Data dashboard for GSTR-9

Depending on the amount of data, calculating all values of GSTR-9 might take a few seconds. So whenever you wish to auto-calculate the information in GSTR-9, simply click on Calculate button.

Auto Calculate GSTR-9

The live preview will show all the information of GSTR-9. Using this facility, you may manually specify or override the value of any section if you prefer. You may print or export the GSTR-9 to share or save for future reference.

Import GSTR-9 generated by GST Portal

GST Portal has also introduced the facility of auto-calculated GSTR-9 return. If you prefer to use the GSTR-9 calculated by GST Portal, you can import it into Octa GST.

You will need to use Octa Portal to download the system generated GSTR-9 return.

  • Login to GST Portal and open Return Dashboard. Open Octa GST Assistant window, select GSTR-9 and click Refresh. You will get an option to download GSTR-9 as calculated by GST Portal.
  • Open GSTR-9 preview in Octa GST and click on Import button. Selected the JSON/ZIP file downloaded from GST Portal.

Verify the GSTR-9 Data

Regardless of which method you use to automatically calculate the GSTR-9 data, it is recommended to verify the figures calculated by Octa or GST Portal. This can be compared with the figures as recorded in your ERP package. If you find any discrepancies, you can correct those figures by clicking on Edit button in each row.

Upload to GST Portal

Once you are satisfied with contents of GSTR-9, you can generate the JSON file and upload it to GST Portal.

Before generating the GSTR-9 JSON file, Octa GST will apply the various validation checks and if there are potential issues, they will be shown to you. You may choose to fix those issues or you can simply ignore them and continue to generate the JSON file.

If you need to do further analysis of figures in GST returns, or you prefer to verify how Octa GST is calculating the data in GSTR-9, you can refer the GST returns report. This report contains the month-wise consolidated data of all returns and their comparisons.