According to section 44(1) of the Central Goods and Services (CGST) Act of 2018, every registered taxpayer under GST, barring input service distributors, need to file annual returns electronically. It directs business owners to submit a record of all the taxable transactions in a financial year to the Government.

In case, annual GST return filing returns online for the first time, here are few crucial points to keep in mind:

Due Date
GST needs to be filed on or before 31st December of the subsequent financial year in accordance with the CGST Act prepared by the GST Council. If you fail to do so, then a late fee of Rs. 200 per day subject to a maximum of 0.25% of the annual turnover will be levied.
Categories of Forms
Before filing your Goods and services tax returns, you need to know the category you fall under as a taxpayer. This will accordingly determine the form which you need to fill up when filing your GST, a few of which are as follows -
Category of Taxpayer
1- GSTR-9
Regular taxpayers under normal scheme
2- GSTR-9A
Taxpayers under composition scheme
3- GSTR-9B
E-commerce operator
4- GSTR-9C
Taxpayers with annual turnover above Rs.2 crore
Reconciliation Statement and Certificate
If the annual turnover of your company is above Rs. 2 crore, you need to get your account audited by a Chartered Accountant in order to file a reconciliation statement in GSTR-9C. In GSTR-9C, Part A is the reconciliation statement, while Part B is the certificate of reconciliation awarded by the CA who has conducted the audit.