GST 30 November 2026 Deadline: What Closes for FY 2025-26
Updated: 3 days ago
Quick answer: For FY 2025-26, Monday 30 November 2026 is the last date to claim missed ITC, report credit notes, correct GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B details, and complete Rule 37A reversals. The first four windows close earlier if you file the FY 2025-26 annual return (GSTR-9) before that date.
Contents
What closes on 30 November 2026
Four provisions of the CGST Act, 2017 use the same cut-off: the thirtieth day of November following the end of the financial year, or the date of furnishing the annual return, whichever is earlier. The Finance Act, 2022 moved them from the September return to 30 November, effective 1 October 2022 (Notification No. 18/2022-Central Tax dated 28 September 2022).
A fifth date, under Rule 37A of the CGST Rules, 2017, also falls on 30 November. It is a reversal deadline, not a claim deadline.
What matters is the date a return is actually filed, not its due date. An October 2026 GSTR-3B filed late on 27 November is still within the window. The same return filed on 1 December is not.
ITC under Section 16(4)
Section 16(4) bars ITC on an invoice or debit note after 30 November following the end of the financial year to which it pertains, or after the relevant annual return is filed, whichever is earlier. For FY 2025-26 invoices, that is 30 November 2026.
The other conditions of Section 16 still apply: a valid invoice, receipt of goods or services, the supplier's tax actually paid, and the invoice appearing in GSTR-2B. Meeting the date does not cure a missing condition.
Debit notes are tested by their own date, not the original invoice's date, after the Finance Act, 2020 amendment (effective 1 January 2021). A debit note dated October 2026 belongs to FY 2026-27. Re-availing credit that was reversed earlier is not limited by Section 16(4) (Rule 37(4)).
Worked example: missed ITC
Shree Polymers (illustrative) files GSTR-3B monthly. In its October review it finds a February 2026 purchase invoice in GSTR-2B with tax of ₹1,80,000 (CGST ₹90,000 + SGST ₹90,000) that was never claimed.
Claim route: include it in the October 2026 GSTR-3B, due 20 November 2026.
Hard stop: if that return is filed on or before 30 November 2026, the credit is in time. If it is filed on 1 December, the ₹1,80,000 is lost for good.
Trap: if Shree Polymers files its FY 2025-26 GSTR-9 on 15 November, the window closes on 15 November, and the claim in a return filed on 20 November is barred.
For more on reconciling GSTR-2B with books before the cut-off, read GSTR-2B mismatch before 30 November 2026.
Practice guide for professionals
For a table-by-table working reference on the annual return and reconciliation statement, see the GSTR-9 & GSTR-9C Practical Working Guide (PDF, ₹299).
Credit notes under Section 34(2)
Section 34(2) requires a supplier to declare a credit note in the return for the month in which it is issued, and not later than 30 November following the end of the financial year in which the supply was made (or the annual return date, if earlier).
Read the two conditions together. GSTR-1 for a month is normally filed after that month ends, so a credit note issued in November 2026 would go into a return filed in December, after the cut-off. For a monthly filer, October 2026 is the last practical month to issue a credit note on an FY 2025-26 supply.
Since 1 October 2025 there is a second condition. The proviso to Section 34(2), substituted by section 126 of the Finance Act, 2025 (in force from 1 October 2025 under Notification No. 16/2025-Central Tax dated 17 September 2025), allows no reduction in the supplier's output tax if a registered recipient availed the related ITC and has not reversed it.
Worked example: year-end discount
Mehta Traders (illustrative), a monthly filer, agrees a ₹5,00,000 price reduction on January 2026 sales to a registered customer. GST at 18% is ₹90,000.
Issued 30 October 2026: reported in the October GSTR-1 (due 11 November). The ₹90,000 can reduce output tax, provided the customer reverses the ₹90,000 of ITC it had claimed.
Issued 5 November 2026: it belongs in the November GSTR-1, due 11 December. That is after 30 November, so the tax on the original invoice stays payable. A commercial credit note can still settle the account between the parties.
Working-paper point: keep the customer's confirmation (or the IMS action and GSTR-2B evidence) that the credit was reversed. Without it, the reduction can be questioned.
For how recipients act on credit notes in IMS, see the IMS ITC review checklist.
Correcting GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B
GSTR-1: under the first proviso to Section 37(3), no rectification of FY 2025-26 details is allowed after 30 November 2026 or the annual return date, whichever is earlier. Typical fixes are a wrong recipient GSTIN, B2B shown as B2C, or a wrong place of supply. Use the amendment tables in the October GSTR-1 or GSTR-1A.
GSTR-3B: GSTR-3B cannot be revised. Under Section 39(9), an omission or incorrect figure is corrected in the return for the period in which it is noticed, with interest where tax was short paid. The proviso bars this after 30 November 2026 or the actual date of filing the annual return, whichever is earlier.
Section 39(9) covers errors you find yourself. Errors found in scrutiny, audit, inspection or enforcement by the tax authorities are dealt with in those proceedings. Tax on a missed sale is still payable after the cut-off; it is paid through DRC-03 with interest rather than through GSTR-1.
Some taxpayers have obtained writ relief to correct bona fide errors after the cut-off (for example, Aberdare Technologies before the Bombay High Court). That relief turned on its facts. Plan to the statutory date.
For the month-to-month mechanics, read GSTR-1A: how to correct GSTR-1 before filing GSTR-3B.
Rule 37A: reversing ITC when the supplier has not filed
Rule 37A (inserted by Notification No. 26/2022-Central Tax dated 26 December 2022) applies where the supplier reported an invoice in GSTR-1 or IFF, the recipient availed the ITC, but the supplier did not file GSTR-3B for that tax period by 30 September following the end of the financial year.
The recipient must reverse that ITC in a GSTR-3B filed on or before 30 November following the end of that year. If it does not, the amount is payable with interest under Section 50. Once the supplier files the pending GSTR-3B, the credit can be re-availed in a later return.
Worked example: supplier has not filed
A recipient claimed ₹60,000 ITC in August 2025 on a July 2025 invoice. The supplier filed GSTR-1 for July 2025 but had not filed the July 2025 GSTR-3B by 30 September 2026.
Reverse ₹60,000 in the October 2026 GSTR-3B (Table 4(B)(2)), filed by 30 November 2026.
If the supplier files its July 2025 GSTR-3B in, say, February 2027, re-avail the ₹60,000 in the GSTR-3B for that month.
If the reversal is missed, expect the amount to be demanded with interest under Section 50; see Rule 88B(3) GST interest on ITC for how interest is computed.
QRMP filers: fewer returns left
A QRMP taxpayer files GSTR-3B quarterly. The July to September 2026 return was due on 22 or 24 October 2026, depending on the State. The next one, for October to December 2026, is due in January 2027, after the cut-off.
So for most QRMP filers who have already filed the July to September return, the FY 2025-26 ITC window has in practice closed. If that return has not yet been filed, it can still carry a claim if filed by 30 November 2026, with late fee and interest as applicable.
For credit notes to registered customers, a QRMP supplier can report a credit note issued in October 2026 through IFF (open 1 to 13 November 2026). IFF takes B2B details only (Rule 59(2)). Whether an IFF declaration fully meets Section 34(2) has not been expressly clarified, so document the position.
Why filing GSTR-9 early can hurt
GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C for FY 2025-26 are due on 31 December 2026 (Rule 80 of the CGST Rules). Because Sections 16(4), 34(2), 37(3) and 39(9) all say "whichever is earlier", filing GSTR-9 before 30 November closes every window on the filing date.
Taxpayers with aggregate turnover up to ₹2 crore are exempt from filing GSTR-9 from FY 2024-25 onwards (Notification No. 15/2025-Central Tax dated 17 September 2025). For them the date is simply 30 November 2026, unless they choose to file GSTR-9.
In the annual return, ITC of FY 2025-26 claimed in FY 2026-27 returns is reported in Tables 8C and 13, and amendments made after year-end in Tables 10 and 11. See GSTR-9 due date for FY 2025-26 for applicability and dates.
Action list before 30 November 2026
Reconcile FY 2025-26 purchase registers with GSTR-2B for every month; list unclaimed eligible ITC.
Check supplier GSTR-3B status for FY 2025-26 invoices; compute Rule 37A reversals.
List all agreed discounts, returns and rate corrections on FY 2025-26 sales; issue credit notes in October 2026 and confirm the customer's ITC reversal.
Compare GSTR-1 with books for FY 2025-26 (GSTIN, B2B/B2C, place of supply, HSN); fix through the October GSTR-1 or GSTR-1A.
Review GSTR-3B for short-paid tax or omitted figures; correct in the October GSTR-3B with interest, or pay through DRC-03.
File the October 2026 GSTR-1 by 11 November and GSTR-3B by 20 November; do not let either slip past 30 November.
Do not file the FY 2025-26 GSTR-9 until the above is complete.
Keep the reconciliations, confirmations and computations on file for GSTR-9, GSTR-9C and any later scrutiny.
Related reading
Sources
Sections 16(4), 34(2), 37(3), 39(9) and 50 of the CGST Act, 2017; Rules 37, 37A, 59 and 80 of the CGST Rules, 2017; Finance Act, 2022 (sections 100, 102, 103 and related amendments) and Notification No. 18/2022-Central Tax dated 28 September 2022; section 126 of the Finance Act, 2025 and Notification No. 16/2025-Central Tax dated 17 September 2025; Notification No. 26/2022-Central Tax dated 26 December 2022 (Rule 37A); Notification No. 15/2025-Central Tax dated 17 September 2025 (GSTR-9 exemption). Business names in the examples are illustrative. Position as of 28 October 2026; no CBIC notification extending these dates had been issued at that time.
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