How to File GSTR-3B: A Section-by-Section Guide

GSTR-3B is the monthly (or quarterly, under QRMP) summary return in which you declare your total outward liability, claim input tax credit, and actually pay the tax. It is due on the 20th of the following month for monthly filers, or the 22nd or 24th of the month after the quarter for QRMP filers depending on the state group. It cannot be revised, and since the July 2025 tax period its outward-liability figures are auto-populated from GSTR-1 and locked.

What GSTR-3B is and who files it

GSTR-3B is the return prescribed under Section 39 of the CGST Act read with Rule 61. Every regular registered taxpayer files it, including those with nil activity for the period. Composition taxpayers, Input Service Distributors, non-resident taxable persons, TDS deductors and TCS-collecting e-commerce operators file their own separate forms instead.

It began life as a temporary simplification while the original GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 matching design was deferred, and it has since become the permanent centre of the filing cycle. Its character has changed along the way. Originally it was a self-assessed summary you keyed in yourself. Today the outward side is fed from GSTR-1 and the input side from GSTR-2B, and your job in GSTR-3B is mostly to check, adjust the few rows that remain yours, and pay.

Due dates and the QRMP state groups

Filer	Frequency	Due date
Monthly filer	Monthly	20th of the following month
QRMP — Group A states	Quarterly	22nd of the month after the quarter
QRMP — Group B states	Quarterly	24th of the month after the quarter
QRMP — months 1 and 2	Monthly payment only	Form GST PMT-06 by the 25th

Group A broadly covers the southern and western states and union territories — Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Group B covers the northern, central and eastern states and union territories, filing on the 24th. If you are not sure which group a registration falls into, the GST state code list is a useful cross-reference, and the portal shows the applicable date on the return dashboard itself. The eligibility rules and payment mechanics of quarterly filing are covered separately in our QRMP scheme guide.

Section-by-section walkthrough

Table 3.1 — Outward supplies and inward supplies liable to reverse charge

• 3.1(a) Outward taxable supplies (other than zero-rated, nil-rated and exempted) — your ordinary taxable sales, with the tax split across IGST, CGST, SGST and cess.
• 3.1(b) Outward taxable supplies (zero-rated) — exports and supplies to SEZ units and developers.
• 3.1(c) Other outward supplies (nil-rated, exempted) — value only, no tax.
• 3.1(d) Inward supplies liable to reverse charge — the tax you owe as recipient under RCM. This is a liability, not a credit; the corresponding credit is claimed separately in Table 4(A)(3).
• 3.1(e) Non-GST outward supplies — alcohol for human consumption, petroleum products and the like.

Table 3.1.1 — Supplies notified under Section 9(5)

Two rows for e-commerce. Row (i) is completed by the operator for supplies on which it is liable to pay tax under Section 9(5) — passenger transport, restaurant services through the platform, and the other notified categories. Row (ii) is completed by the supplier, reporting the value of such supplies made through the operator, on which the supplier does not pay tax. Both rows exist so the two sides reconcile; only one of them will be yours.

Table 3.2 — Inter-state supplies to unregistered persons, composition dealers and UIN holders

A place-of-supply-wise breakdown of part of what you already reported in 3.1(a) and 3.1.1(i). It is a subset, not an addition — the figures here must not exceed the parent rows. Its purpose is revenue allocation between states, which is why it is checked closely and why an incorrect place of supply in GSTR-1 shows up here as a mismatch.

Tables 5, 5.1 and 6.1

Table 5 is value-only reporting of exempt, nil-rated and non-GST inward supplies, split inter-state and intra-state — an information field with no tax effect. Table 5.1 carries interest and late fee for previous periods; the late fee is system-computed and locked, while interest is largely yours to declare against a portal-suggested figure. Table 6.1 is the settlement grid — liability by head, credit utilised by head, cash payable — and is covered in its own section below.

Table 4 in detail: the ITC reversal rows

Table 4 is where most of the real work — and most of the audit exposure — sits. Its current structure came in with Notification 14/2022 and CBIC Circular 170/02/2022-GST, applicable from the August 2022 return period, and the design intent was to make reversals visible rather than netted off silently.

Row	What it captures
4(A)(1)	ITC on import of goods.
4(A)(2)	ITC on import of services.
4(A)(3)	ITC on inward supplies liable to reverse charge, other than imports — the credit side of the liability declared in 3.1(d).
4(A)(4)	ITC received from an Input Service Distributor.
4(A)(5)	All other ITC — in practice the bulk of the figure, auto-populated from GSTR-2B.
4(B)(1)	Permanent reversals — Rules 38, 42 and 43 (proportionate reversal for exempt and personal use, and on capital goods) and blocked credits under Section 17(5). These are not reclaimable.
4(B)(2)	Temporary reversals — principally Rule 37, where a supplier has not been paid within 180 days of the invoice date, plus other reversals that can be reclaimed once the condition is cured.
4(C)	Net ITC available: 4(A) minus 4(B). This is what lands in your electronic credit ledger.
4(D)(1)	ITC reclaimed that was earlier reversed under 4(B)(2) — for example after paying the overdue supplier.
4(D)(2)	Ineligible ITC under Section 16(4), and ITC restricted because the place-of-supply provisions put the credit in another state. Reported for information; it never enters the ledger.

For the eligibility conditions behind these rows — the Section 16 conditions, the Section 17(5) blocked credit list and the Section 16(4) time limit — see our input tax credit rules guide.

Auto-population, hard-locking and what you can still edit

GSTR-3B arrives pre-filled from two directions: the outward side from your own GSTR-1, IFF and GSTR-1A, and the input side from your GSTR-2B. How much of that you can override has narrowed sharply.

Section	Source	Editable?
3.1(a), (b), (c), (e)	GSTR-1 / IFF / GSTR-1A	No — hard-locked since the July 2025 tax period. Correct via GSTR-1A before filing.
3.1(d) — RCM liability	Not from GSTR-1	Yes. This is your own declaration.
3.1.1	GSTR-1 / IFF / GSTR-1A	No, on the same basis as 3.1.
3.2	GSTR-1 / IFF / GSTR-1A	No — made non-editable during 2025. Correct via GSTR-1A.
Table 4 — ITC	GSTR-2B	Yes, within limits. Deviations from the auto-populated figure beyond a tolerance are flagged, and reversals in 4(B) are yours to compute.
Table 5	Manual	Yes.
Late fee in 5.1	System-computed	No.

The hard-locking of outward liability was announced in October 2024, deferred once, and finally took effect for GSTR-3B filed from August 2025 onward, covering the July 2025 tax period. It is the single biggest behavioural change in the return in years: the month-end habit of "adjusting the 3B figure to match the books" no longer exists as an option. If GSTR-1 is wrong, the period is wrong until GSTR-1A fixes it — and GSTR-1A closes the moment you file GSTR-3B. The three correction routes that replace the edit, and the process changes each one forces, are worked through in GSTR-3B auto-lock: what changes for filers.

GSTN has signalled an intention to extend similar locking to the ITC side in a future phase. As at the time of writing, Table 4 remains editable within tolerance; check the current advisories on gst.gov.in before assuming either way for a given period.

Table 6.1: how the payment actually works

Table 6.1 sets liability against the two ledgers. The rules that decide the outcome:

• IGST credit is used first, against IGST liability and then against CGST and SGST in any order, before CGST or SGST credit can be touched.
• CGST credit cannot be set off against SGST liability, and vice versa. This is the cross-utilisation bar, and it is why businesses can hold credit in one head while paying cash in another.
• RCM liability under 3.1(d) must be paid in cash. Credit cannot discharge it. The corresponding ITC is claimed in the same return under 4(A)(3), so the net cash effect is usually neutral within the month, but the gross payment still has to be made.
• Interest and late fee must be paid in cash. Credit is not available for either.
• Rule 86B restricts some large taxpayers — broadly, those with monthly taxable turnover above ₹50 lakh, subject to several exceptions — to discharging no more than 99% of their output liability through the credit ledger, forcing at least 1% in cash. Check whether the exceptions apply to you before assuming it bites.

The cash ledger is funded through a challan; the credit ledger fills automatically from Table 4(C). Filing fails if the balance payable in cash is not available, so the challan has to be paid before the return can be submitted.

Interest and late fee mechanics

Interest under Section 50(1) runs at 18% per annum on tax paid late. The proviso, given effect by Rule 88B, is significant and often missed: where the return for a period is filed after the due date, interest is charged only on the portion of the liability discharged by debiting the electronic cash ledger — not on the part set off with input tax credit. That relief is not available where proceedings under Section 73 or 74 have already been initiated for the period.

Interest under Section 50(3) runs at 24% per annum on input tax credit wrongly availed and utilised. Rule 88B(3) is precise about the trigger: credit that is availed but sits unused in the ledger, and is then reversed, does not attract this rate.

Late fee under Section 47 currently runs at ₹50 per day of delay, split ₹25 CGST and ₹25 SGST, or ₹20 per day for a nil return, with caps that step by turnover — commonly ₹500 for nil returns, ₹2,000 up to ₹1.5 crore annual aggregate turnover, ₹5,000 from ₹1.5 crore to ₹5 crore, and ₹10,000 above ₹5 crore. These figures have moved before and may move again; treat them as indicative and verify the current notification.

Why GSTR-3B cannot be revised

There is no revision facility, and there never has been. The design assumption is that GSTR-3B is a self-assessed summary rolled forward: an error in one period is corrected by adjusting the corresponding figure in a later period's return, with interest where the correction increases liability.

That correction is not open-ended. The outer limit under Sections 37(3) and 39(9) is 30 November following the end of the financial year to which the entry relates, or the date of filing the annual return for that year, whichever is earlier. Miss it and the error is permanent in the returns, leaving only the annual return and any assessment proceedings as places to deal with it.

Two further constraints tighten this. First, hard-locking means an outward-liability error can no longer be quietly corrected inside GSTR-3B at all — it has to be routed through GSTR-1A while that window is open. Second, the three-year bar introduced by the Finance Act 2023, enforced on the portal from the July 2025 tax period, permanently blocks filing of a GSTR-3B more than three years after its due date. A backlog is no longer something you can catch up on at leisure.

The one input to all of this you do not control is your suppliers. Your Table 4 figure is built from what they filed, so a vendor who is late, has stopped filing, or whose registration has been cancelled quietly reduces the credit you can claim this month. Checking filing history at onboarding and periodically thereafter is the cheapest control available.

Frequently asked questions

What is the due date for GSTR-3B?

The 20th of the following month for monthly filers. Under QRMP, GSTR-3B is quarterly and due on the 22nd of the month after the quarter for taxpayers in one group of states and union territories, and the 24th for the other group. Monthly tax under QRMP is still paid through Form GST PMT-06 by the 25th of each of the first two months of the quarter.

Can GSTR-3B be revised after filing?

No. There is no revision facility for GSTR-3B — once submitted, the return for that period is final. Errors are corrected by adjusting the figures in a subsequent period's GSTR-3B, subject to the outer limit of 30 November following the end of the financial year or the filing of the annual return, whichever is earlier. Outward liability errors are now corrected upstream in GSTR-1A instead.

Is the outward supply table in GSTR-3B still editable?

Largely no. Since the July 2025 tax period, Table 3.1 outward liability and Table 3.2 are auto-populated from GSTR-1, IFF and GSTR-1A and hard-locked against direct editing. Corrections have to be made through GSTR-1A for the same period before GSTR-3B is filed. Table 3.1(d), inward supplies liable to reverse charge, does not come from GSTR-1 and remains a figure you enter.

What interest applies if GSTR-3B is filed late?

Interest at 18% per annum under Section 50(1). Where the return is filed after the due date, Rule 88B computes interest only on the portion of the liability discharged by debiting the electronic cash ledger, not on the part set off with input tax credit — provided no proceedings under Section 73 or 74 have been initiated for that period. ITC wrongly availed and utilised attracts 24% per annum under Section 50(3).

What is the late fee for GSTR-3B?

Under Section 47 read with the current waiver notification, ₹50 per day of delay (₹25 CGST plus ₹25 SGST), or ₹20 per day for a nil return, capped by turnover band — commonly ₹500 for nil returns, ₹2,000 up to ₹1.5 crore annual aggregate turnover, ₹5,000 between ₹1.5 crore and ₹5 crore, and ₹10,000 above ₹5 crore. Caps have been revised more than once, so confirm the current notification.

Can I file GSTR-3B without filing GSTR-1 first?

No. Since 1 January 2022 the portal blocks GSTR-3B for a tax period until GSTR-1 for that same period has been filed. Since the outward liability in GSTR-3B is now auto-populated from GSTR-1 anyway, the sequence is structural rather than merely procedural.

What is Table 4(B)(2) used for?

Table 4(B)(2) is for ITC reversals that are temporary and can be reclaimed later — most commonly the Rule 37 reversal where a supplier has not been paid within 180 days. When the condition is cured, the credit is reclaimed in Table 4(D)(1). The portal tracks the running balance through the Electronic Credit Reversal and Re-claimed Statement, and reclaiming more than you reversed will trigger a validation warning.