GSTR-4 annual return: meaning, due date, late fee, format and how to file

GSTR-4 is the yearly GST return that every composition dealer must file. It shows your turnover, your purchases and the tax you paid in the year. For FY 2024-25 onwards, it is due by 30 June after the year ends. If you file late, the late fee is ₹50 a day (₹20 a day for a nil return), up to ₹2,000 (₹500 for nil).

So GSTR-4 for 2025-26 was due on 30 June 2026, and GSTR-4 for 2026-27 is due on 30 June 2027. This guide explains who must file it, the due dates for each year, the late fee with examples, how to file it on the GST portal (including a nil GSTR-4), what is in the form, and what GSTR-4A is.

What is GSTR-4?

GSTR-4 is the annual return for composition taxpayers under section 39(2) of the CGST Act, 2017. A composition taxpayer is a small business that pays GST at a low flat rate on its turnover (1%, 5% or 6%) instead of normal GST. Our GST composition scheme guide explains who can join and the rates.

Composition dealers file only two GST forms:

In GSTR-4 you report, for the whole year:

• your sales (outward supplies), rate by rate;
• your purchases (inward supplies), from registered and unregistered sellers, and any services you imported;
• purchases on which you paid tax under reverse charge;
• the tax you already paid through your four CMP-08s, and any tax, interest or late fee still due.

GSTR-4 has been a yearly return since FY 2019-20. Before that, composition dealers filed a quarterly GSTR-4. So when you see "GSTR-4 for July to September 2017", that is the old quarterly form.

Who must file GSTR-4?

You must file GSTR-4 if you were in the composition scheme for even one day in the financial year. This includes:

• traders, manufacturers and restaurants paying 1% or 5% under section 10(1);
• service providers paying 6% under section 10(2A);
• businesses that opted out of composition during the year (you file GSTR-4 for the part of the year you were in it);
• businesses whose registration was cancelled during the year, for the period they were in composition;
• composition dealers who had no sales at all (they file a nil GSTR-4).

You do not file GSTR-4 if you are a regular GST taxpayer, a casual or non-resident taxable person, an input service distributor, an online information service provider from abroad (OIDAR), a TDS deductor or TCS collector, or a UIN holder.

GSTR-4 turnover limit. GSTR-4 has no limit of its own. It is for everyone in the composition scheme, and the scheme's limit is ₹1.5 crore of turnover in the last financial year (₹75 lakh in 8 States, and ₹50 lakh for service providers). In GSTR-4 you also enter your aggregate turnover of the previous financial year. Enter 0 if you registered during the year or had no turnover.

If you were a regular taxpayer for part of the year and a composition dealer for the rest, you file GSTR-4 for the composition part and the normal returns (GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B) for the regular part.

GSTR-4 due date

The due date is set by rule 62 of the CGST Rules.

• From FY 2024-25: 30 June after the financial year. The date changed by Notification 12/2024-Central Tax (10 July 2024).
• FY 2019-20 to FY 2023-24: 30 April after the financial year.
• FY 2021-22: the due date was 30 April 2022. The government waived the late fee for returns filed from 1 May 2022 to 28 July 2022 (Notifications 07/2022 and 12/2022-Central Tax).

The government can extend a due date by notification. These are the dates in the rules on 20 October 2026, and we found no extension for FY 2022-23 to 2025-26. Before a deadline, check the news section of the GST portal. All other GST due dates are on our GST return due dates page.

The "last day" column is our reading of section 39(11), explained in the old returns section below.

GSTR-4 late fee

If you file GSTR-4 after the due date, you pay a late fee for every day of delay, until the day you file. Section 47 of the CGST Act allows up to ₹100 a day, but the government has waived most of it. For GSTR-4 of FY 2021-22 onwards, you pay:

Each figure is the total under the Central GST law (CGST) and your State or Union Territory GST law (SGST or UTGST), which charge equal halves.

Example 1. A grocery shop in the composition scheme files GSTR-4 for 2025-26 on 20 July 2026, 20 days late. Late fee: 20 x ₹50 = ₹1,000 (₹500 CGST and ₹500 SGST).

Example 2. The same shop files on 20 October 2026, 112 days late. 112 x ₹50 = ₹5,600, but the maximum is ₹2,000, so it pays ₹2,000. A shop with a nil GSTR-4 would pay ₹500, not ₹2,240.

How the late fee works on the portal:

• The portal works out the late fee and adds it to the payment table (Table 8). You cannot file a late GSTR-4 without paying it, even a nil return.
• You pay the late fee in cash from your electronic cash ledger. Composition dealers have no input tax credit to use anyway.
• Interest is separate. If you paid any tax late, you pay interest at 18% a year on it under section 50. In GSTR-4, you enter the interest yourself. Our GST interest calculator works it out.

Is there a GSTR-4 late fee waiver now? No general waiver is in force for GSTR-4 on 20 October 2026. The GST Council's 57th meeting (8 October 2026) recommended a late fee waiver for some returns under section 39(1), but it is not notified yet. Our reading: GSTR-4 is filed under section 39(2), so that recommendation does not cover it.

Can I still file an old GSTR-4?

Yes, but only within 3 years from its due date. Section 39(11) of the CGST Act says a return cannot be filed after 3 years from its due date, unless the government allows it by notification. The GST portal blocks such returns from the July 2025 tax period onwards.

• FY 2021-22: the GST portal stopped accepting it from 1 August 2025 (GSTN advisory).
• FY 2022-23: due 30 April 2023, so the 3 years ended on 30 April 2026 (our reading).
• FY 2023-24: due 30 April 2024, so you can file it until 30 April 2027 (our reading). File it now, with the late fee (₹2,000 at most, or ₹500 if nil).
• FY 2024-25 and FY 2025-26: you can still file them, with the late fee.

Remember, you must file all CMP-08s of a year before its GSTR-4. So if you missed a CMP-08, file that first.

How to file GSTR-4 online

Before you start: file all four CMP-08 statements for the year. The GSTR-4 tile stays locked until you do. Keep your sales and purchase totals for the year ready, rate by rate.

1. Log in at www.gst.gov.in.
2. Go to Services, Returns, Annual Return.
3. Choose the Financial Year and click SEARCH.
4. In the GSTR-4 tile, click PREPARE ONLINE.
5. Enter your aggregate turnover of the previous financial year and click SAVE. (Enter 0 if you registered during the year or had no turnover.)
6. Fill the tables: 4A to 4D (purchases and imported services) and 6 (sales, rate by rate). Click SAVE after each. Tables 5 and 7 fill on their own.
7. Click Compute Liabilities, wait a few minutes and click Refresh.
8. Click DOWNLOAD GSTR-4 SUMMARY (PDF) or DOWNLOAD GSTR-4 (EXCEL) and check the draft.
9. Click PROCEED TO FILE. Check the tax, interest and late fee. If the Additional Cash Required column shows an amount, click CREATE CHALLAN and pay it.
10. Tick the declaration, choose the authorised signatory, click FILE GSTR-4 and then YES.
11. Click FILE WITH DSC or FILE WITH EVC (a one-time password on the signatory's mobile).

After filing, you get an ARN by SMS and email, and the status changes to "Filed". To download it later, go to Services, Returns, View/Download Filed Returns.

You cannot revise GSTR-4. There is no option to change it after filing, so check every table before step 10.

How to file a nil GSTR-4

You can file a nil GSTR-4 if, in the whole year:

• you made no sales (no outward supplies);
• you bought no goods or services (no inward supplies);
• you have no other tax to pay; and
• all your CMP-08s for the year were filed as nil.

Do steps 1 to 5 above, then tick File Nil GSTR4 and click PROCEED TO FILE, then PROCEED TO FILE again and CONTINUE. Then pay any late fee and file with DSC or EVC (steps 9 to 11). A nil GSTR-4 filed late still has a late fee (₹20 a day, up to ₹500). For nil CMP-08 statements, see our nil return guide.

GSTR-4 offline tool

If you prefer Excel, use the GSTR-4 (Annual) offline tool. Download it from Downloads, Offline Tools, GSTR-4 (Annual) offline tool on the GST portal (no login needed). Fill it on a Windows computer with Excel 2007 or later, make a JSON file, and upload that file on the portal. You still file and sign the return on the portal.

GSTR-4 format: what is in the form

Do not leave Table 6 empty. Some composition dealers once filed GSTR-4 without their sales in Table 6. The tax they had paid through CMP-08 then showed as excess tax paid. The portal now warns that Tables 4A to 4D and Table 6 must be filled, and shows a reconciliation if Table 5 (your CMP-08 tax) and Table 6 do not match. Your Table 6 turnover should match what you declared in your CMP-08s, or explain the difference.

What is GSTR-4A?

GSTR-4A is a read-only statement for composition dealers. The portal builds it from your suppliers' returns: their GSTR-1 and GSTR-5, and the GSTR-7 of anyone who deducted TDS from your payments.

• You do not file GSTR-4A, and you cannot change it.
• Use it to check your purchases before you fill Table 4A of GSTR-4.
• To see it, go to Services, Returns, Returns Dashboard, choose the year and period. If it has many invoices, download it as an Excel file.

Our reading: if a purchase is missing from GSTR-4A, your supplier may not have reported it, so ask the supplier to check their GSTR-1.

GSTR-4 vs CMP-08 vs GSTR-4A

Common GSTR-4 mistakes

1. Filing GSTR-4 before all CMP-08s. The portal will not allow it. File every CMP-08 of the year first.
2. Leaving Table 6 empty, or showing a different turnover than in your CMP-08s.
3. Wrong previous-year turnover in the first screen. Use your aggregate turnover for all GSTINs on your PAN (0 if you registered this year).
4. Missing the 30 June date. The late fee starts the next day and reaches ₹2,000 after 40 days.
5. Thinking you need not file after opting out. You still file GSTR-4 for the part of the year you were in composition.
6. Leaving old years too long. After 3 years from the due date, a GSTR-4 cannot be filed at all.
7. Not checking before filing. GSTR-4 cannot be revised.

Frequently asked questions