Year-end GST checklist for online sellers

A GST year-end has two deadlines, not one. Before 31 March you set up the new year: the composition choice, a fresh LUT and new invoice series. By 30 November after the year you close the old one: last input tax credit claims, credit notes and corrections. For FY 2025-26 that date is 30 November 2026.

Why does GST have two year-ends?

Because the financial year closes on 31 March, but the law gives you until 30 November to tidy it up. The extra months exist for practical reasons. Supplier invoices arrive late. Returns come back weeks after the sale. Ad and fee invoices from marketplaces get missed.

The catch sits in the words "whichever is earlier". A press release from the Ministry of Finance in October 2022 spelled it out: the compliances can be done in a return filed up to 30 November of the next year, or the date the annual return is furnished, whichever comes first. File GSTR-9 early and the window closes early.

The dates at a glance

Who must file GSTR-9 and when you are exempt is covered in GSTR-9 due date and who should file.

Checklist: closing the old year by 30 November

1. Match purchases to GSTR-2B. Pull every month of 2B for the year and compare it with your purchase and expense bills, including marketplace commission, shipping and ad invoices.
2. Claim what you missed. Any eligible credit not yet taken goes into a GSTR-3B filed on or before 30 November. For a monthly filer that is usually the October return. See ITC on Amazon and Flipkart commission for the fee side.
3. Issue and declare credit notes. A credit note for a FY 2025-26 sale must be declared by the same date. Since 1 October 2025, the proviso to section 34(2) lets you cut your tax on a credit note only if a registered buyer has reversed the matching credit.
4. Fix GSTR-1 errors. A B2B invoice shown as B2C, a wrong buyer GSTIN, a wrong State: correct them through the amendment tables in a GSTR-1 filed by the cut-off.
5. Check TCS. Compare what each marketplace reported against your sales. Our help guide on TCS matching shows how.
6. Only then file GSTR-9. The annual return is a summary. It is not the place to claim credit you missed in GSTR-3B.

Checklist: setting up the new year before 1 April

1. Work out your turnover for the year. It decides several things for next year: whether composition is open to you, whether you may file quarterly, and how many HSN digits you must show.
2. Decide on composition. Want to switch for FY 2027-28? Rule 3(3) needs CMP-02 before the year begins, and Form ITC-03 within 60 days after. The trade-offs for online sellers are in composition for e-commerce sellers.
3. Renew the LUT if you export. Last year's lapses on 31 March.
4. Start fresh invoice series. Rule 46(b) asks for serial numbers unique for a financial year. Adding the year, such as 27-28, to your own series keeps it simple. Marketplace invoices follow the marketplace's numbering.
5. Close March cleanly. The March return carries the year's last Table 13 document summary and is the base for everything that follows.

A worked example

Anita sells home decor on Amazon and Flipkart and files monthly. In November 2026 she matches her FY 2025-26 bills to GSTR-2B and finds Rs 18,000 of credit on marketplace ad invoices that she never claimed.

Now suppose she had filed GSTR-9 on 15 October 2026 to get it off her desk. Her window would have closed on 15 October, and the October return would have been too late too. Early filing has a cost.

The mistake people usually make

The usual one is treating GSTR-9 as the clean-up return. Sellers leave missed credit and wrong invoices for the annual return, then find the law wanted them fixed in GSTR-3B and GSTR-1 by 30 November.

The second is letting old returns pile up. Sections 37(5) and 39(11) bar filing a return more than three years after its due date. A month you never filed can become a month you can never file.

The third is forgetting the start-of-year steps. A seller who meant to join composition, or to export under an LUT, and files in April has missed the first day of the year.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

The credit note proviso in section 34(2) was substituted with effect from 1 October 2025, as noted above. CBIC's copy of section 34 also shows a 2026 insertion by section 154 of the Finance Act, 2026, which expressly allows a credit note for a discount given after the sale. CBIC's page still marks it as not yet notified, while news reports say it took effect on 1 November 2026. Confirm its status before you issue discount credit notes.

Do it yourself or hand it over?

If you sell on one marketplace, buy from a few suppliers and file on time, this list takes an afternoon. Hand it over if 2B and your books do not agree, if you sell on several platforms, or if more than a few thousand rupees of credit is in doubt. The 30 November cut-off does not move.

Frequently asked questions

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