How to File Your GST Annual Returns for 2025-26
You can now file your GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C annual returns for the 2025-26 financial year on the GST portal.
- Document
- Returns
- Dated
- 13 Oct 2026
- Effective
- 8th October 2026
This page was written by Patron Accounting’s AI from the official release and reviewed before publishing. It explains the document in plain language. It is not the document itself. Where this page and the original differ, the original governs.
The short version
- The GST portal now allows filing of annual returns for 2025-26.
- You must file all monthly or quarterly returns before accessing annual forms.
- The filing facility became active on October 8, 2026.
- Contact the GSTN helpdesk if you need assistance with your filing.
In short
This update from the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) confirms that the annual return forms, GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C, are now open for the 2025-26 financial year.
What has changed
How it worked before
There was no facility to file these specific annual returns for the 2025-26 period before October 8, 2026.
What has changed
The filing portal has been updated to accept annual returns for the 2025-26 financial year.
Who this affects
If you run a business registered under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system, this applies to you.
An example
Imagine you run a small retail shop. You have already filed all your monthly GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B returns for the 2025-26 year. Because you are up to date, you can now log into the GST portal and see the active tile to begin your GSTR-9 annual filing.
What you should do
Check that you have submitted all your monthly or quarterly GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B returns for the 2025-26 year, as the annual return option will not appear until these are complete.
If you do nothing
If you do not file your annual returns by the legal deadline, you may face late fees or penalties. Failing to file prevents you from completing your tax compliance for the year.
The terms explained
- GSTR-9
- An annual return form for regular taxpayers to summarize their yearly sales and purchases.
- GSTR-9C
- A reconciliation statement that matches your annual return data with your audited financial statements.
- GSTR-1
- A monthly or quarterly form where you report all your outward sales.
- GSTR-3B
- A monthly or quarterly summary return where you report sales and pay your tax.
The original document
| Issued by | GSTN |
|---|---|
| Document | Returns |
| Full title | Annual Returns in the form of GSTR-9/9C for FY 2025-26 |
| Issued on | 13 October 2026 |
| Effective | 8th October 2026 |
About Patron Accounting LLP
Patron Accounting LLP is a CA and CS-led accounting and compliance firm that has been working with businesses across India since 2019. We handle the work that keeps a company correct with every department it answers to: day-to-day bookkeeping and accounting, GST registration and returns, income tax filing and assessments, TDS, payroll and PF/ESI, company and LLP incorporation, ROC and MCA compliance, statutory and internal audit, physical stock and inventory audits, trademark and other registrations, and the certificates and reports that banks, buyers and regulators ask for.
Our clients range from a first proprietorship registering for GST to established companies running operations across several states. Much of our work is exactly this: reading what a department has published and telling a business, in plain terms, whether it changes anything for them.
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