GST due dates for small businesses: the monthly checklist

If you file GST every month, two dates run your month: GSTR-1 on the 11th and GSTR-3B on the 20th of the next month. If you're on the quarterly scheme (QRMP), you file GSTR-1 by the 13th after the quarter ends, GSTR-3B by the 22nd or 24th depending on your state, and you pay tax for the first two months of the quarter by the 25th of the next month.

That's the short answer. The rest of this page puts those dates into a working month, so nothing lands on your CA's desk the night before.

First, which kind of filer are you?

There are two ways to file, and the dates are different for each.

• Monthly filer. You file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B every month. This is the default.
• QRMP filer. QRMP stands for Quarterly Return, Monthly Payment. If your turnover in the last financial year was up to ₹5 crore, you can choose to file returns once a quarter while still paying tax every month. If your turnover goes above ₹5 crore, you move back to monthly filing from the next quarter.

Not sure which you are? Ask your CA before the next due date.

The month for a monthly filer

Here is October's sales, filed in November, as an example.

1. 1st to 10th: collect every sales invoice from October. Include credit notes and any invoice you corrected. This is the step that usually slips.
2. By the 11th: file GSTR-1. This is your list of sales. Your buyers' input tax credit depends on it, so a late GSTR-1 hurts them as well as you.
3. 12th to 19th: check your purchase side. Match what your suppliers uploaded against your purchase bills, and chase anyone who hasn't uploaded yet.
4. By the 20th: file GSTR-3B and pay the tax. This is the summary return where the tax is actually paid.

If you only remember one thing, remember this: the 11th is about your sales, the 20th is about your money.

The quarter for a QRMP filer

Take the October to December quarter.

1. By 25 November: pay October's tax using form PMT-06.
2. By 25 December: pay November's tax the same way.
3. By 13 January: file GSTR-1 for the whole quarter.
4. By 22 or 24 January: file GSTR-3B for the quarter and pay what's left for December. Whether it's the 22nd or the 24th depends on which state or union territory you're registered in. Check yours on the portal once and write it down.

QRMP saves you paperwork, not payments. The monthly 25th dates still matter.

What being late costs

Two separate charges can apply when GSTR-3B is late.

• A late fee for every day. ₹50 a day for a return with tax to pay, and ₹20 a day for a nil return (one with no sales and no tax). Ten days late on a normal return is ₹500, before any interest.
• Interest on the tax itself. 18% a year on tax paid after the due date, counted for the days it was late.

The late fee is capped, and the cap has changed over the years and can depend on your turnover. The sources we checked don't agree on the current figure, so we're not quoting one here. Your CA or the GST portal will have it.

The bigger cost is often your buyers. When your GSTR-1 is late, their input tax credit is late too, and they notice.

How to make the dates hard to forget

None of this is difficult. It's just easy to lose track of in a busy month.

• Put four reminders in your calendar, a few days early. The 8th for invoices, the 11th for GSTR-1, the 17th for the purchase check, the 20th for GSTR-3B. A reminder on the due date itself is a reminder that you're already late.
• Send invoices to your CA every week, not every month. Ten invoices on a Friday is easier for everyone than three hundred on the 9th.
• Keep one folder for the month. Sales invoices, purchase bills and credit notes, named by date. When someone asks for "the Sharma invoice from the 14th", you find it in seconds.
• Write your state's QRMP date on the first page of your file if you're on the quarterly scheme. You'll look it up once, not every quarter.

If you use Vyxto, you can ask for the reminder in one sentence, the way you'd ask a colleague: "Remind me on Friday to send the GST summary to our CA." It creates the reminder in your task app, and anything that would leave your company still waits for your OK.

How we checked these dates

We checked every date and figure on this page on 9 November 2026 against more than one source, and left out anything the sources didn't agree on.

• The monthly dates (11th and 20th), the QRMP dates (13th, 22nd or 24th) and the PMT-06 date (25th): Busy, GimBooks and TaxGuru's QRMP analysis, which cites CBIC Circular No. 143/13/2020-GST.
• The late fee per day and the 18% interest: Busy and Groww.
• The ₹5 crore QRMP limit: Busy and TaxGuru.

The government can move a due date by notification. Before you file, check the GST portal. This page is a planning guide, not tax advice. For anything specific to your business, ask your CA.