QRMP Scheme: Quarterly GST Returns With Monthly Payment, Explained

The QRMP scheme lets a business with aggregate turnover up to Rs 5 crore file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B once a quarter instead of every month, while still paying tax every month. In the first two months of each quarter you pay through a challan by the 25th. In the third month you file both returns for the whole quarter.

What is the QRMP scheme, and why does it exist?

QRMP stands for Quarterly Returns with Monthly Payment. It began on 1 January 2021. The idea is simple: small businesses spend too much time on returns, but the government still wants its tax every month. So the filing became quarterly and the payment stayed monthly.

It covers the two regular returns: GSTR-1, where you report sales, and GSTR-3B, where you pay.

Who can opt in?

You can, if your aggregate turnover was up to Rs 5 crore in the previous financial year and you have filed the last GSTR-3B that was due. Aggregate turnover is counted on your PAN across India.

• If your turnover crosses Rs 5 crore during a quarter, you move to monthly filing from the next quarter.
• The choice is made for each GSTIN. One GSTIN can be quarterly and another monthly under the same PAN.
• Once you opt in, it continues. You do not choose again every quarter.

When and how do you opt in or out?

The window for a quarter opens on the first day of the second month of the quarter before it, and closes on the last day of the first month of the quarter itself.

1. Log in at gst.gov.in.
2. Go to Services, Returns, Opt-in for quarterly return.
3. Pick the financial year, choose quarterly or monthly for the quarter, and save.

If the portal refuses, check that your last GSTR-3B is filed.

What do you do in the first two months?

Two things, and only one of them is compulsory.

Pay tax through PMT-06 (compulsory). PMT-06 is the ordinary GST challan. Generate it by the 25th of the next month and pick the reason for monthly payment by a quarterly taxpayer. You have two ways to arrive at the amount, and you may use a different one each month.

You need not pay anything in a month with no tax due, or when your cash and credit ledgers already cover it. The fixed sum challan is not offered to new registrations, to those who have just left the composition scheme, or if your last GSTR-3B is not filed.

Upload B2B invoices in the IFF (optional). From the 1st to the 13th of the next month you may upload invoices and credit or debit notes issued to registered buyers, up to Rs 50 lakh a month. They reach your buyer's GSTR-2B for that month. What you upload is not repeated in the quarterly GSTR-1. If you sell only to consumers, you can ignore the IFF. Our note on skipping the IFF and filing in the final month explains when that is safe.

What does one quarter look like?

Take October to December 2026.

The 22nd applies to States such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The 24th applies to States such as Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal. The full lists are in our GSTR-3B guide.

A worked example

You paid Rs 60,000 in cash in your July to September GSTR-3B. For October to December you choose the fixed sum method.

• Challan for October, paid 25 November: 35% of Rs 60,000 = Rs 21,000.
• Challan for November, paid 25 December: Rs 21,000.
• Actual tax for the quarter after credit: Rs 75,000.
• Balance paid with GSTR-3B on 22 January: Rs 75,000 less Rs 42,000 = Rs 33,000.
• Interest: nil, because every step was on time.

Now take self-assessment. Your October tax was Rs 30,000 but you paid Rs 18,000 on 25 November. You pay the missing Rs 12,000 with GSTR-3B on 22 January, 58 days later. Interest: Rs 12,000 x 18% x 58/365 = Rs 343.

And if the quarterly GSTR-3B itself is late? Interest runs on the tax still unpaid after your two challans, and late fee applies to the return. There is no late fee for paying a monthly challan late, only interest.

Who does it suit, and who should stay monthly?

It suits you if you sell mostly to consumers, your monthly tax is fairly steady, and you would rather sit with your books four times a year than twelve. Many marketplace sellers fit this.

Think twice if most of your sales are to GST-registered businesses. Your buyers want credit every month. Unless you upload every invoice in the IFF by the 13th, they wait up to three months, and they will remember that when placing the next order. Once you are doing the IFF monthly anyway, most of the saving is gone. The IFF also stops at Rs 50 lakh a month.

Stay monthly if you are close to Rs 5 crore, or you regularly claim refunds, since a quarterly filer can apply only after the quarter's GSTR-3B.

The mistake people usually make

They hear "quarterly" and forget the 25th. The challan for months 1 and 2 is not a return, so nothing on the portal looks overdue, and interest at 18% builds quietly. Set two reminders a quarter.

The second mistake is treating the challan as final. The money sits in your cash ledger and is set off only when you file the quarterly GSTR-3B. Until then you cannot use it for anything else or claim it back.

Frequently asked questions

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