GSTR-9C Offline Utility

Overview

GSTR-9C Offline utility is an Excel-based tool to facilitate the creation of reconciliation statement, duly verified and signed by Chartered Accountant/Cost Accountant, required to be furnished by normal taxpayer having turnover above ₹2 Crore in Form GSTR 9C, along with annual return in Form GSTR-9.

Chartered Accountant/Cost Accountant will use the GSTR-9C Offline utility to fill up details. Once GSTR-9C return is prepared using offline tool, it is to be uploaded on the GST portal by the taxpayer along with a copy of Balance Sheet, Income and Expenditure Account/ Profit and Loss Account and any other related document.

• The taxpayer can file Form GSTR-9C after filing his/her annual return in Form GSTR-9. In case he/she has not filed Form GSTR-9, GST Portal won’t allow the taxpayer to file Form GSTR-9C.

• Filing of Form GSTR-9C is not applicable to Central Government or a State Government or a local authority, whose books of account are subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India or an auditor appointed for auditing the accounts of local authorities under any law for the time being in force.

Once return is prepared using offline utility, it is to be uploaded and filed on GST Portal.

To Prepare Annual Return in Form GSTR-9C, perform following steps:

A. Download Filed Form GSTR-9 and Form GSTR-9C Tables Derived from Form GSTR-9

Taxpayer need to send to Auditor data related to filed Form GSTR-9 and also system-generated Form GSTR-9C Tables Derived from Form GSTR-9 for preparation of Form GSTR 9C. To download this data from the GST Portal, Taxpayer needs to perform following steps:

1) Access the www.gst.gov.in URL. The GST Home page is displayed.

2) Login to the portal with valid credentials.

3) Dashboard page is displayed. Click the Services > Returns > Annual Return command. Alternatively, you can also click the Annual Return link on the Dashboard.

4) The File Annual Returns page is displayed. Select the Financial Year from the drop-down list.

5) Click the SEARCH button.

6) The Tiles related to Annual Returns get displayed, with Help and Message boxes below the SEARCH fields.

7) To download data related to filed Form GSTR-9, follow the steps mentioned below:

a. Click the DOWNLOAD GSTR-9 button in the GSTR9 tile.

b. “Offline Download for GSTR-9” page gets displayed containing three buttons. Follow the steps mentioned in the following link to download filed GSTR-9 data using the displayed buttons (as explained in Step 7b): Download Filed Data from “File Annual Returns” Page

8) To download data related to filed Form GSTR-9C, follow the steps mentioned below:

a. Click the INITIATE FILING button in the GSTR-9C tile.

b. The GSTR-9C page is displayed. Click the Download GSTR-9C TABLES DERIVED FROM GSTR-9(PDF) button.

c. System-generated PDF gets downloaded into your machine. Here’s a sample:

B. Send Files to the Auditor for Preparing GSTR-9C Statement

Taxpayer need to send to the Auditor downloaded data of Filed Form GSTR-9 and systemgenerated Form GSTR-9C Tables Derived from Form GSTR-9, along with audited financial statements and other relevant documents for preparation of Form GSTR 9C.

This step is to be performed outside the GST Portal. Taxpayer and Auditor can use email or offline storage devices such as USB/hard drive, or by printing and sending the hard copy or any other means., etc. to exchange files between them.

C. Download GSTR-9C Offline Utility

Auditor need to use GSTR-9C Offline utility to fill up details. This Offline Utility can be easily downloaded from the GST Portal with or without logging in with Username/Password credentials.

To download the GSTR-9C Offline Utility, Auditor needs to perform following steps:

Downloading the GSTR-9C Offline utility is a one-time activity. However, the utility may get updated in future. So, always use the latest version available on the GST Portal.

1) Access the www.gst.gov.in URL. The GST Home page is displayed.

2) Click the Downloads > Offline Tools > GSTR-9C Offline Tool option.

You can download the GSTR-9C Offline Utility from the Portal without logging in to the GST Portal with Username and Password.

3) GSTR-9C Offline Utility page is displayed. Click the Download hyperlink.

Make sure you carefully read the important message and System Requirement details displayed on the page.

4) An Information popup opens. Click PROCEED.

5) Zipped GSTR-9C Offline Utility folder gets downloaded.

D. Install emSigner

Auditor need to install emSigner from GST Portal, which will be used once he/she fills all details in the GSTR-9C Offline utility and is going to generate JSON File to be sent to the Taxpayer.

To install emSigner, Auditor needs to perform steps mentioned in the following link: Manual > Install emSigner

E. Open the GSTR-9C Offline Utility Excel Worksheet

Once the Auditor downloads GSTR-9C Offline Utility from GST Portal, he/she can start filling data in it offline.

To open the downloaded GSTR-9C Offline Utility Excel Worksheet, Auditor needs to perform following steps:

1) Extract the files from the downloaded zipped folder GSTR_9c_Offline_Utility.zip and you will see GSTR_9c_Offline_Utility excel file in the unzipped folder. Right-click and click Open.

Along with the GSTR_9c_Offline_Utility excel file, there will be following files also:

• Readme Notepad: Open it to read about pre-requisites before Installation of the Offline Tool, installation instructions and key functionalities.

• ‘wsweb’ HTML File: Please ensure HTML file name ‘wsweb’ and ‘GSTR_9C_Offline_Utility’ should be in same folder to generate the JSON.”

2) Click Enable Editing.

3) Click Enable Content.

4) Click the symbol on the below-left side of the excel sheet to go to the Read Me tab.

The Worksheet comprises 17 tabs—Read Me, Home, PT II (5), PT II (6), PT II (7), PT II (8), PT III (9), PT III (10), PT III (11), PT IV (12), PT IV (13), PT IV (14), PT IV (15), PT IV (16), PT V, Part B (i) and Part B (ii)

5) Read Me page is displayed. It contains introduction and help instructions. Scroll down to read all the instructions carefully. Once you have completed your reading, you can now proceed to enter other details in the worksheet.

6) Once you have completed your reading of the Read Me page, click the Home tab and scroll down to fill the basic details under PART-A-Reconciliation Statement header.

Make sure you fill the mandatory fields marked with red asterisk “*”.

7) Enter GSTIN.

8) Select Financial Year from the drop-down list.

9) Enter Legal Name.

10) Enter Trade Name (If any), (Filling of Legal name/trade name is not mandatory)

11) Enter Name of Act (if you are liable to audit under any Act).

12) Select “Yes” or “No” from the drop-down list in the following field: Is the person making reconciliation statement (FORM GSTR-9C) is same person who had conducted the audit of mentioned GSTIN.

• In case of Yes, Part B (ii) tab is removed from the Offline Utility.

• In case of No, Part B (i) tab is removed from the Offline Utility.

13) . Click “Proceed to fill Part-A” button or the “Proceed to fill Part-B” button to start entering details in the tables of Form GSTR-9C statement.

• “Proceed to fill Part-A” button will take you to PT II (5) tab.

• “Proceed to fill Part-B” button will take you to Part B (i) tab if you had selected “Yes” in the Step 5F field and otherwise if you had selected “No”, it will take you to Part B (ii) tab.

• In case you save your entered data and close the Excel Utility, following popup “Open Saved Version?” will appear when you open it next time. Click “No” to start filling data in the Excel from scratch. Otherwise, select “Yes” and your saved data will be available as-is in the respective tables.

F. Add table-wise details in the Worksheet

Auditor needs to add details for following Part A & Part B Tables of Form GSTR-9C statement using the Offline Tool.

Part A:

• PT II —Reconciliation of Turnover Declared in Audited Annual Financial Statement with Turnover Declared in Annual Return (Form GSTR9).

Enter details in the following tables of PT II:

F(1). PT. II(5)- Reconciliation of Gross Turnover

F(2). PT. II(6)- Reasons for Un-reconciled difference in Annual Gross Turnover

F(3). PT. II(7)- Reconciliation of Taxable Turnover

F(4). PT. II(8)- Reasons for Un-Reconciled Difference in Taxable Turnover

• PT III —Reconciliation of Tax Paid

Enter details in the following tables of PT III:

F(5). PT. III(9)- Reconciliation of Rate-wise Liability and Amount Payable Thereon

F(6). PT. III(10)- Reasons for Un-reconciled Payment of Tax

F(7). PT. III(11)- Additional Amount Payable but Not Paid (due to reasons specified under Tables 6,8 and 10 above)

• PT IV —Reconciliation of Input Tax Credit (ITC)

Enter details in the following tables of PT IV:

F(8). PT. IV(12)- Reconciliation of Net Input Tax Credit (ITC)

F(9). PT. IV(13)- Reasons for Un-reconciled Difference in ITC

F(10). PT. IV(14)- Reconciliation of ITC Declared in Annual Return (GSTR9) with ITC Availed on Expenses as per Audited Annual Financial Statement or Books of Account

F(11). PT. IV(15)- Reasons for un – reconciled difference in ITC

F(12). PT. IV(16)- Tax Payable on Un-reconciled Difference in ITC (due to reasons specified in 13 and 15 above)

• F(13). PT V — Auditor’s Recommendation on Additional Liability Due to Non-reconciliation

PART – B: Certification

• F(14). Part B (i): Certification in cases where the reconciliation statement (FORM GSTR-9C) is drawn up by the person who had conducted the audit

• F(15). Part B (ii): Certification in cases where the reconciliation statement (FORM GSTR-9C) is drawn up by a person other than the person who had conducted the audit of the accounts

F(1). PT. II(5)- Reconciliation of Gross Turnover

To add details in the Worksheet related to Reconciliation of Gross Turnover, perform following steps:

You can enter details in this table using data (PDF of Form GSTR-9C Tables Derived from Form GSTR-9) sent to you by the Taxpayer.

1) Go to the PT II (5) tab and enter details in the Amount column.

2) For detailed instructions on how to enter the amount details in each of these fields, refer to the following table (as available in the Read Me page).

2) Once the details are entered, click the Validate Sheet button.

3) In case of unsuccessful validation, error-intimation popup will appear, the cells with error will be highlighted and the Sheet Validation error column will provide description of the error. Close the popup by clicking OK.

4) Correct the errors as mentioned in the Sheet Validation error column and click the Validate Sheet button again.

5) In case of successful validation, red-highlights disappear and a popup Message box appears confirming successful validation. Click OK to close the popup and proceed entering details in the other tabs of the worksheet.

F(2). PT. II(6)- Reasons for Un-reconciled Difference in Annual Gross Turnover

To add details in the worksheet related to reasons for non-reconciliation between the annual turnover declared in the audited Annual Financial Statement and turnover as declared in the Annual Return (Form GSTR-9), perform following steps:

1) Go to the PT II (6) tab and enter reasons for reconciled difference in annual gross turnover in the Reason Number 1 text field.

2) To add more number of reasons, click the Add button.

3) Enter the relevant details in the new added row also.

4) Once the details are entered, click the Validate Sheet button.

5) In case of unsuccessful validation, correct the errors as specified in the previous section— F(1). PT. II(5)- Reconciliation of Gross Turnover and proceed entering details in the other tabs of the worksheet.

F(3). PT. II(7)- Reconciliation of Taxable Turnover

To add details in the Worksheet related to reconciliation of taxable turnover from the audited annual turnover after adjustments with the taxable turnover declared in annual return (GSTR-9), perform following steps:

1) Go to the PT II (7) tab and enter details in the Amount column.

For detailed instructions on how to enter the amount details in each of these fields, refer to the following table (as available in the Read Me page).

2) Once the details are entered, click the Validate Sheet button.

3) In case of unsuccessful validation, correct the errors as specified in the previous section— F(1). PT. II(5)- Reconciliation of Gross Turnover and proceed entering details in the other tabs of the worksheet.

F(4). PT. II(8)- Reasons for Un-Reconciled Difference in Taxable Turnover

To add details in the worksheet related to reasons for un-reconciled difference in taxable turnover, perform following steps:

1) Go to the PT II (8) tab and follow steps as mentioned in the following section: F(2). PT. II(6)- Reasons for Un-reconciled Difference in Annual Gross Turnover

F(5). PT. III(9)- Reconciliation of Rate-wise Liability and Amount Payable thereon

To add details in the worksheet related to reconciliation of rate-wise liability and amount payable thereon, perform following steps:

1) Go to the PT III (9) tab and enter details in the Taxable Value and Tax Payable column.

For detailed instructions on how to enter the amount details in each of these fields, refer to the following table (as available in the Read Me page).

2) Once the details are entered, click the Validate Sheet button.

3) In case of unsuccessful validation, correct the errors as specified in the previous section— F(1). PT. II(5)- Reconciliation of Gross Turnover and proceed entering details in the other tabs of the worksheet.

F(6). PT. III(10)- Reasons for Un-reconciled Payment of Tax

To add details in the worksheet related to reasons for non-reconciliation between payable/ liability declared in Table 9P above and the amount payable in Table 9Q, perform following steps:

1) Go to the PT III (10) tab and follow steps as mentioned in the following section: F(2). PT. II(6)- Reasons for Un-reconciled Difference in Annual Gross Turnover

F(7). PT. III(11)- Additional Amount Payable but Not Paid (due to reasons specified under Tables 6,8 and 10 above)

To add details in the Worksheet related to any amount which is payable due to reasons specified under Table 6, 8 and 10 above, perform following steps:

1) Go to the PT III (11) tab and enter details in the Taxable Value and Tax to be paid through Cash column.

2) Once the details are entered, click the Validate Sheet button.

3) In case of unsuccessful validation, correct the errors as specified in the previous section— F(1). PT. II(5)- Reconciliation of Gross Turnover and proceed entering details in the other tabs of the worksheet.

F(8). PT. IV(12)- Reconciliation of Net Input Tax Credit (ITC)

1) Go to the PT IV (12) tab and enter details in the Amount column.

For detailed instructions on how to enter the amount details in each of these fields, refer to the following table (as available in the Read Me page).

2) Once the details are entered, click the Validate Sheet button.

3) In case of unsuccessful validation, correct the errors as specified in the previous section— F(1). PT. II(5)- Reconciliation of Gross Turnover and proceed entering details in the other tabs of the worksheet.

F(9). PT. IV(13)- Reasons for Un-reconciled Difference in ITC

To add details in the Worksheet related to reasons for un-reconciled difference in ITC, perform following steps:

1) Go to the PT IV (13) tab and follow steps as mentioned in the following section: F(2). PT. II(6)- Reasons for Un-reconciled Difference in Annual Gross Turnover

F(10). PT. IV(14)- Reconciliation of ITC Declared in Annual Return (GSTR9) with ITC Availed on Expenses as per Audited Annual Financial Statement or Books of Account

To add details in the worksheet related to reconciliation of ITC declared in the Annual Return (GSTR-9) against the expenses booked in the audited Annual Financial Statement or books of account, perform following steps:

1) Go to the PT IV (14) tab and enter details in the Value, Amount of Total ITC and Amount of eligible ITC availed columns. Click the Add button to add more rows for providing expense details.

For detailed instructions on how to enter the amount details in each of these fields, refer to the following table (as available in the Read Me page).

2) Once the details are entered, click the Validate Sheet button.

3) In case of unsuccessful validation, correct the errors as specified in the previous section— F(1). PT. II(5)- Reconciliation of Gross Turnover and proceed entering details in the other tabs of the worksheet.

F(11). PT. IV(15)- Reasons for Un-reconciled Difference in ITC

To add details in the Worksheet related to reasons for non-reconciliation between ITC availed on the various expenses declared in Table 14R and ITC declared in Table 14S, perform following steps:

1) Go to the PT IV (15) tab and follow steps as mentioned in the following section: F(2). PT. II(6)- Reasons for Un-reconciled Difference in Annual Gross Turnover

F(12). PT. IV(16)- Tax Payable on Un-reconciled Difference in ITC (due to reasons specified in 13 and 15 above)

To add details in the Worksheet related to any amount which is payable due to reasons specified in Table 13 and 15, perform following steps:

1) Go to the PT IV (16) tab and enter details in the Amount Payable column.

2) Once the details are entered, click the Validate Sheet button.

3) In case of unsuccessful validation, correct the errors as specified in the previous section— F(1). PT. II(5)- Reconciliation of Gross Turnover and proceed entering details in the other tabs of the worksheet.

F(13). PT. V- Auditor’s Recommendation on Additional Liability Due to Nonreconciliation

To add details in the Worksheet related to auditor‘s recommendation on the additional liability to be discharged by the taxpayer due to non-reconciliation of turnover or non-reconciliation of input tax credit, perform following steps:

1) Go to the PT V tab and enter details in the Value, Tax to be paid through Cash columns. Also, enter the verification details.

• Make sure, in the PAN details for digital signature* field, you have entered the same PAN with which you had registered your DSC. Otherwise, you won’t be able to e-sign using your DSC while generating JSON file.

• For detailed instructions on how to enter details in each of these fields, refer to the following table (as available in the Read Me page).

2) Once the details are entered, click the Validate Sheet button.

3) In case of unsuccessful validation, correct the errors as specified in the previous section— F(1). PT. II(5)- Reconciliation of Gross Turnover and proceed entering details in the other tabs of the worksheet.

F(14). Part B (i): Certification in cases where the reconciliation statement (FORM GSTR-9C) is drawn up by the person who had conducted the audit

To add Certification details in the Worksheet in cases where the reconciliation statement (FORM GSTR-9C) is drawn up by the person who had conducted the audit, perform following steps:

1) Go to the Part B (i) tab and enter certification details. Scroll down and make sure you enter all mandatory fields marked with red asterisk *.

2) Once the details are entered, click the Validate Sheet button.

3) In case of unsuccessful validation, correct the errors as specified in the previous section— F(1). PT. II(5)- Reconciliation of Gross Turnover.

4) Go to the Home tab to generate preview draft of your GSTR-9C entries in PDF format.

F(15). Part B (ii): Certification in cases where the reconciliation statement (FORM GSTR-9C) is drawn up by a person other than the person who had conducted the audit of the accounts

To add Certification details in the worksheet in cases where the reconciliation statement (FORM GSTR-9C) is drawn up by the person other than the person who had conducted the audit, perform following steps:

1) Go to the Part B (ii) tab and enter certification details. Scroll down and make sure you enter all mandatory fields marked with red asterisk *.

2) Once the details are entered, click the Validate Sheet button.

3) In case of unsuccessful validation, correct the errors as specified in the previous section— F(1). PT. II(5)- Reconciliation of Gross Turnover.

4) Go to the Home tab to generate preview draft of your GSTR-9C entries in PDF format.

G. Generate Preview PDF file to view Draft Form GSTR-9C

Once the Auditor has entered details in all the worksheets of the Offline tool and validated each worksheet, he/she can preview the entered details in PDF format.

To generate Preview PDF file from the GSTR-9C Offline tool and view Draft Form GSTR-9C, after entering and validating details in all the worksheets of the Offline tool, Auditor needs to perform following steps:

1) Go to the Home tab. Click the Generate Preview PDF file to view Draft GSTR-9C form button.

2) “Select Folder and File Name to save” dialog box opens. Click the SAVE button.

3) Microsoft Excel popup is displayed mentioning that the Preview PDF file is saved in your specified location. Click OK.

Open the PDF to review your entered details and make changes in the tables present in the Offline Utility, if required. PDF downloaded from Offline utility is only for reference. Here’s a first page of a sample of a generated Preview PDF File.

H. Generate JSON File and Affix DSC

Once the Auditor has entered, validated and previewed details entered in the Offline tool, he/she can proceed to sign it by affixing his/her DSC and generate signed JSON File to be sent to the Taxpayer.

To generate JSON File and affix DSC, Auditor needs to perform following steps:

• Make sure you have installed emSigner in your machine before you perform this step.

• Make sure, in PT V tab of the Worksheet, you have entered the same PAN with which you had registered your DSC. Otherwise, you won’t be able to e-sign using your DSC while generating JSON file.

1) Go to the Home tab. Click the Generate JSON File to Upload GSTR-9C details on GST Portal button.

2) “Save As” dialog box opens. Click the SAVE button.

Please ensure HTML file name ‘wsweb’ and ‘GSTR_9C_Offline_Utility’ should be in same folder to generate the JSON.”

3) Browser popup will be displayed. Click on Allow blocked content of ActiveX pop-up in IE.

4) Click the Initiate Signing button.

5) Ready to Sign Pop-up is displayed. Click the OK button.

6) Click the Open Emsigner button.

7) Emsigner popup is displayed. Select the Certificate and sign.

8) Success message pop-up is displayed mentioning that signing of the JSON File is now complete. Click OK.

9) A popup message appears mentioning that the signed JSON has been generated, saved at the specified location and is ready for upload. Click the OK button to close the popup. Now, you can send this signed JSON file to the Taxpayer for uploading.

I. Send the Signed JSON File to the Taxpayer for Upload on GST Portal

Once the Auditor has signed by affixing his/her DSC and generated the signed JSON File, he/she needs to send it, along with all the relevant documents, to the Taxpayer so that the Taxpayer can upload it on the GST Portal and file the return.

This step is to be performed outside the GST Portal. Taxpayer and Auditor can use email or offline storage devices such as USB/hard drive, etc. to exchange files between them.

J. Upload the Signed JSON File on GST Portal

Once the Taxpayer receives signed JSON File from the Auditor, along with any other relevant documents that needs to be uploaded during filing of Form GSTR-9C, the Taxpayer need to first upload the signed JSON File on the GST Portal and after successful upload he/she can proceed to filing the Form GSTR-9C.

• You must not make any changes in the JSON file signed by the Auditor. During upload, GST System validates that no changes have been made by taxpayer in JSON signed by auditor. If you make any changes, the System will process your data with error and generate an error file. Thus, it is recommended not to tamper with the signed JSON File that has been sent for upload.

• In case you wish to review details entered by the Auditor in your Form GSTR-9C, you can ask the Auditor to send you the Preview PDF File generated from the Offline Tool. It will contain details for you to review and verify. In case of any discrepancy, ask the Auditor to make corrections, sign and resend the updated JSON for upload.

To upload the signed JSON File on the GST Portal, Taxpayer needs to perform following steps:

1) Access the www.gst.gov.in URL. The GST Home page is displayed.

2) Login to the portal with valid credentials.

3) Dashboard page is displayed. Click the Services > Returns > Annual Return command. Alternatively, you can also click the Annual Return link on the Dashboard.

4) The File Annual Returns page is displayed. Select the Financial Year for which you want to file the return from the drop-down list.

5) Click the SEARCH button.

6) The GSTR-9C tile is displayed, with an Important Message box on the bottom. In the GSTR9C tile, click the PREPARE OFFLINE button.

7) The Upload section of the Offline Upload and Download for GSTR-9C page is displayed. Click the Choose File button.

8) Browse and navigate the JSON file to be uploaded from your computer. Click the Open button.

9) The Upload section page is displayed. A green message appears confirming successful upload and asking you to wait while the GST Portal validates the uploaded data. And, below the message, is the Upload History table showing Status as “Processed”.

10) Now, you can proceed to filing Form GSTR-9C on the GST Portal. Follow the steps mentioned in the following link: Initiate Filing of Form GSTR-9C

In case, error was found, then the Upload History table will show the Status as “Processed with Error” and a “Generate error report” link will be displayed to download the error report. Follow steps mentioned in the following: Download Zipped Error Report and Send Zipped Error Report to the Auditor.

K. Download Zipped Error Report

Once the Taxpayer uploads the Auditor’s signed JSON File on the GST Portal’s “Offline Upload and Download for GSTR-9C” page, he may receive an error message in case entries contained in the JSON failed GST System’s validation. In such a case, GST Portal displays the error message as “Processed with Error” in the “Status” column of the “Upload History” table and the Taxpayer need to download the error report and send it to the Auditor for corrections.

To download the zipped Error report generated after uploading the signed GSTR-9C JSON File on the GST Portal, Taxpayer need to perform following steps:

1) In the Upload History table, click Generate error report hyperlink.

2) A confirmation-message is displayed and Columns “Status” and “Error Report” change as shown.

3) Once the error report is generated, “Download error report” link is displayed in the Column “Error Report”. Click the Download error report link to download the zipped error report.

4) The error JSON File is downloaded on your machine.

5) Send this zipped error JSON File to the Auditor, who will make corrections and again generate JSON, sign it and handover to you for uploading.

L. Send Zipped Error Report to the Auditor

Once the Taxpayer has downloaded the zipped Error Report, generated after uploading the signed JSON file on the GST Portal, he/she must send the zipped file to the Auditor, who will make corrections and again generate JSON, sign it and handover to the Taxpayer for uploading.

This step is to be performed outside the GST Portal. Taxpayer and Auditor can use email or offline storage devices such as USB/hard drive, etc. to exchange files between them.

M. Open Zipped Error GSTR-9C JSON File(s), Correct, Sign and Re-send the Updated & Signed JSON to Taxpayer

Taxpayer need to send the zipped Error Report, generated after uploading the signed JSON file on the GST Portal and containing entries that failed validation on the GST portal, to Auditor. In such a case, the Auditor needs to open the zipped file, view errors, correct, validate and again generate a JSON file duly affixed with his/her DSC.

To open the zipped Error GSTR-9C JSON File for correcting entries that failed validation on the GST portal, Auditor need to perform following steps:

1) Go to the Home tab. Click the Open GSTR-9C JSON Error File Downloaded from GST Portal button.

2) Browse the JSON(.json) file of the error report and click the Open button.

3) An Open popup is displayed informing you that the existing data in the excel utility will be overwritten with the downloaded data. Click the Yes button.

4) Microsoft Excel popup is displayed. Click the OK button to close the popup and navigate to individual sheets to view and correct the errors in the respective tables of Excel workbook.

• Error Report contains only those entries that failed validation on the GST portal.

• In case, Taxpayer has tampered with the signed JSON file and then uploaded it, the system-generated error report, after being imported in the utility, will display a popup as shown below. Click OK to close the popup and again generate JSON, sign and send to the Taxpayer.

5) Go to PT II(5) tab. The “Portal Validation error” column displays the error description against the erroneous rows. Correct the errors, as mentioned in the description.

6) After making the corrections, click the Validate Sheet button.

7) Microsoft Excel popup is displayed with the success message. Click OK to close the popup.

8) Similarly, follow steps 5 to Step 7 to correct details in other tabs of the worksheet. After correcting and validating all errors, follow the steps as mentioned in the following links:

  a. Generate Preview PDF file to view Draft Form GSTR-9C

  b. Generate JSON File and Affix DSC

  c. Send the Signed JSON File to the Taxpayer for Upload on GST Portal

N. Download Processed GSTR-9C JSON File(s) from GST Portal

In case Auditor wants to edit/add data in the GST Portal’s successfully processed JSON file, he/she may ask the Taxpayer to download the processed data and send it to him/her for corrections. In such a case, Taxpayer needs to log in to the GST Portal and download the required data.

To download the processed GSTR-9C JSON File from the GST Portal, Taxpayer needs to perform following steps:

1) Access the www.gst.gov.in URL. The GST Home page is displayed.

2) Login to the portal with valid credentials.

3) Dashboard page is displayed. Click the Services > Returns > Annual Return command. Alternatively, you can also click the Annual Return link on the Dashboard.

4) The File Annual Returns page is displayed. Select the Financial Year (FY) from the dropdown list.

5) Click the SEARCH button.

6) The tiles related to the selected FY’s Annual Return are displayed. In the GSTR-9C tile, click the PREPARE OFFLINE button.

7) The Upload section of the Offline Upload and Download for GSTR-9C page is displayed, by default. Click the Download section.

8) Click the GENERATE JSON FILE TO DOWNLOAD button.

9) A message is displayed that “Your request for generation has been accepted kindly wait for 20 min”.

10) Once the JSON file is downloaded, click the “Click here to download – File 1” link.

11) The generated JSON file is downloaded in a zipped format.

12) Send this zipped JSON File to the Auditor, who will make corrections and again generate JSON, sign it and handover to you for uploading.

O. Send Zipped Processed GSTR-9C JSON File to the Auditor

Once the Taxpayer has downloaded the zipped processed GSTR-9C JSON File, generated after successfully uploading the signed JSON file on the GST Portal, he/she must send the zipped file to the Auditor, who may make corrections, if required and then again generate JSON, sign it and handover to the Taxpayer for uploading.

This step is to be performed outside the GST Portal. Taxpayer and Auditor can use email or offline storage devices such as USB/hard drive, etc. to exchange files between them.

P. Open Zipped Processed GSTR-9C JSON File, Correct, Sign and Re-send the Updated & Signed JSON to Taxpayer

Once the Taxpayer sends zipped processed GSTR-9C JSON File (generated after successfully uploading the signed JSON file on the GST Portal and containing entries that succeeded validation on the GST portal) to the Auditor, Auditor needs to open the zipped file, modify data in the tables, validate each table of the worksheet and again generate a JSON file duly affixed with his/her DSC.

To open the zipped processed GSTR-9C JSON File for modifying successfully-validated entries that have been uploaded on the GST Portal, Auditor needs to perform following steps:

1) Go to the Home tab. Click the Open GSTR-9C JSON file downloaded from GST Portal button.

2) Browse the JSON(.json) file and click the Open button.

3) An Open popup is displayed informing you that the existing data in the excel utility will be overwritten with the downloaded data. Click the Yes button.

4) Microsoft Excel popup is displayed. Click the OK button to close the popup. Now, you can navigate to individual sheets to view and modify entries in the respective tables of Excel workbook.

5) After modifying the required entries, follow the steps as mentioned in the followings:

  a. Generate Preview PDF file to view Draft Form GSTR-9C

  b. Generate JSON File and Affix DSC

  c. Send the Signed JSON File to the Taxpayer for Upload on GST Portal

If some entries exist from previous upload on the GST Portal (because these were processed successfully during the previous upload), such entries will be updated with latest uploaded entries when the Taxpayer uploads the latest JSON file that you send. All new entries will be added as new entries.

Q. Initiate Filing of Form GSTR-9C

Once the Taxpayer has successfully uploaded the JSON File—sent by the Auditor after affixing his/her DSC—on the GST Portal and the taxpayer is satisfied with the uploaded data, Taxpayer can initiate the filing process.

To initiate Filing of Form GSTR-9C, Taxpayer needs to perform following steps:

1) Access the www.gst.gov.in URL. The GST Home page is displayed.

2) Login to the portal with valid credentials.

3) Dashboard page is displayed. Click the Services > Returns > Annual Return command. Alternatively, you can also click the Annual Return link on the Dashboard.

4) The File Annual Returns page is displayed. Select the Financial Year (FY) from the dropdown list.

5) Click the SEARCH button.

6) The tiles related to FY’s Annual Returns are displayed. In the GSTR-9C tile, click the INITIATE FILING button.

7) The GSTR-9C page is displayed. Click BACK TO FILE RETURNS to go back to the previous page or follow steps as mentioned below.

a. Click the GST DRC-03 hyperlink to make payment, if any, for additional liability as recommended by the auditor. To know how to make payment using Form GST DRC-03, click here

b. In the Upload Relevant Documents section, click the Choose File buttons to upload the Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Statement/Income of expenditure Statement and Other documents, if any.

Note:

• File with PDF or JPEG format is only allowed.

• Maximum 2 files and 5 MB for each is allowed.

c. Click the SAVE button. This will enable the PROCEED to FILE button.

d. Click the PREVIEW DRAFT GSTR-9C(PDF) button to download the draft Form GSTR-9C in PDF format. It is recommended that you carefully review this draft for any discrepancies before you file this Return. Here’s a sample Preview PDF that gets generated on clicking this button:

e. Once you are satisfied with the entries you have made in various tables, click the enabled PROCEED to FILE button.

f. Ready to file message is displayed on the top of the page.

g. Scroll down and in the Verification section, select the declaration check-box and select Authorized signatory from the drop-down list. Then, click the FILE GSTR-9C button.

h. A Warning popup is displayed. Click YES.

i. Digital signing page is displayed with a Warning message. Click the FILE WITH DSC or FILE WITH EVC button.

j. A green success message is displayed containing the generated ARN. Also, the white band on the top displays the updated status of the Form GSTR-9C return as “Filed”. To go back to the GSTR-9C page, click BACK TO GSTR-9C DASHBOARD. To download the excel format of the filed Form GSTR-9C, click DOWNLOAD FILED GSTR-9C(EXCEL).

A. To go back to the GSTR-9C page, click BACK TO GSTR-9C DASHBOARD. This will display the updated GSTR-9C page.

• Click the documents in the Upload Relevant Documents section to download them, if required.

• Click the DOWNLOAD FILED GSTR-9C(PDF) button to download the filed Form GSTR-9C in PDF format.

• Click the DOWNLOAD FILED GSTR-9C(EXCEL) button to download the filed Form GSTR-9C in excel format. This will generate a link below the button. Click the link to download the excel.

To download the excel format of the filed Form GSTR-9C, click DOWNLOAD FILED GSTR-9C(EXCEL). This will generate a link below the button. Click the link to download the excel.

Note: This same excel is available for download from the GSTR-9C dashboard page as explained in the section 7j. A above.

R. Access Saved Draft of Form GSTR-9C

In case the Taxpayer has saved draft of Form GSTR-9C on the GST Portal, he/she can access it from the Services > Returns> Track Return Status link.

To track draft Form GSTR-9C before filing, Taxpayer may follow steps mentioned in the following link: Manual > Track Return Status

S. Download Filed Data from the “File Annual Returns” Page

In case the Taxpayer has not downloaded the Filed data from the GST Portal, he/she can do so anytime (after filing) from the “File Annual Returns” page and keep it for his/her reference or send to the Auditor.

To download filed data from the “File Annual Returns” page, Taxpayer needs to perform following steps:

1) Access the www.gst.gov.in URL. The GST Home page is displayed.

2) Login to the portal with valid credentials.

3) Dashboard page is displayed. Click the Services > Returns > Annual Return command. Alternatively, you can also click the Annual Return link on the Dashboard.

4) The File Annual Returns page is displayed. Select the Financial Year (FY) from the dropdown list.

5) Click the SEARCH button.

6) The updated GSTR-9C tile is displayed, with the Status as “Filed”. Click the VIEW GSTR-9C button or the DOWNLOAD GSTR-9C button.

7a. On clicking the VIEW GSTR-9C button, GSTR-9C page is displayed. To know what actions to take on this page, please see Step 7j. A of the following section: Initiate Filing of Form GSTR-9C

7b. On clicking the DOWNLOAD GSTR-9C button, Offline Download for GSTR-9C page is displayed.

• A. Click BACK TO FILE RETURNS page to go to the previous page.

OR

• B. Click GENERATE JSON FILE TO DOWNLOAD button. This will display the following message, with a link below the button. Click the link to download the JSON file.

OR

• C. Click DOWNLOAD FILED GSTR-9C(EXCEL) button. This will display the following message, with a link below the button. Click the link to download the JSON file. In case you wish to download the latest file, click the button again and wait for 20 minutes to generate the most updated link.

OR

• D. Click DOWNLOAD FILED GSTR-9C(PDF) button to download the filed Form GSTR-9C in PDF format.

T. View e-Filed Returns

In case the Taxpayer wants to view status of Form GSTR-9C that he/she has filed on the GST Portal, he/she can view Return Status from the Services > Returns> View e-Files Returns link.

To track Return Status after filing, Taxpayer may follow steps mentioned in the following link: Manual > View e-filed Returns