GSTR-5 for non-resident taxpayers: the 13th-of-the-month GST deadline to track

Non-resident businesses that sell into India carry a compliance clock that domestic dealers never have to watch: Form GSTR-5. Every registered Non-Resident Taxable Person (NRTP) must file this monthly return, and since October 2022 the due date has sat on the 13th of the following month, brought forward from the 20th that applied from July 2017 to September 2022. For the September 2026 tax period, that puts the next hard deadline on 13 October 2026 - a date foreign suppliers, event organisers and short-term exhibitors trading in India should already have on the calendar as the week of 25 September closes out. This watchlist walks through the GSTR-5 obligation, the statutory anchor it sits on, and the other dated events worth tracking into the new session.

Statutory Deadlines

The headline item for the coming weeks is GSTR-5. Under the GST framework an NRTP is any person who occasionally supplies goods or services in India but has no fixed place of business here - the classic examples being an overseas exhibitor at a trade fair, a foreign entertainer on a short tour, or a non-resident e-commerce seller registering for a limited window. Section 39(5) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 requires every registered non-resident taxable person to furnish a monthly return electronically, and the return notified for that purpose is Form GSTR-5. The statutory text is available at indiacode.nic.in.

The due date has two competing triggers, and the earlier one wins. The first is the 13th of the month following the tax period. The second is seven days after the last day of validity of the registration, which matters because an NRTP registration is granted for the period specified in the application or a maximum of 90 days at a time. For a short-term registration of one month or less, the seven-day rule will usually bite before the 13th. The briefing point to remember: whichever of the two dates falls earlier is your deadline.

Because the NRTP registration is itself time-boxed, the tax has to be paid up front. An NRTP must make an advance deposit of tax equal to the estimated liability for the registration period at the time of applying, and GSTR-5 is where that deposit is reconciled against actual outward supplies. There is no annual return equivalent to GSTR-9 for a pure NRTP, so the monthly GSTR-5 filed by the 13th is the primary record. If you are unclear on how residency drives Indian tax status more broadly, our glossary entry on residential status sets out the day-count tests, and the assessment year entry explains the reporting period language used across returns.

Domestic filers should not read the GSTR-5 date as their own. The 13th of the month is a return-specific deadline; a resident's monthly GSTR-3B summary return follows a separate 20th/22nd/24th staggered calendar and is not covered here. Nor does GSTR-5 replace direct-tax obligations - advance tax instalments run on the income-tax calendar, and you can size those with our advance tax glossary reference. Anyone catching up on the December reconciliation cycle should read our earlier note on the GSTR-9C reconciliation statement, which rides the 31 December annual deadline.

Market Events

The single dated macro event on the near-term radar is the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), whose next scheduled review runs 5 to 7 October 2026. At its last meeting on 3 to 5 August 2026 the MPC voted unanimously to hold the policy repo rate at 5.25%, the fourth consecutive pause after holds in February, April, June and August 2026. The full resolution and the meeting calendar are published at rbi.org.in.

For traders positioning ahead of that decision, the rate corridor as it stood after the August meeting is the reference point. The table below sets out the key policy rates that a 7 October announcement could move.

At the August 2026 meeting the RBI also revised its FY 2026-27 projections, raising real GDP growth by 10 basis points to 6.7% and lowering CPI inflation by 10 basis points to 5.0%. Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the committee wanted greater clarity on the inflation outlook before acting, noting that headline inflation running above the 4% target was driven by food and fuel rather than generalised price pressure. Systematic investors who prefer not to time these announcements can model a disciplined monthly commitment with our SIP calculator or scale contributions with the step-up SIP calculator.

Regulatory housekeeping is the other strand worth watching. Registered investment advisers continue to work against the compliance baseline set out in the SEBI February 2026 Investment Advisers master circular, which we covered in detail in our master circular explainer. No SEBI board meeting date has been confirmed for the immediate session, so treat any calendar you see elsewhere with caution until it appears on sebi.gov.in.

Earnings

There are no company results confirmed on the Oquilia newsroom calendar for the 25 September 2026 session. In keeping with this desk's zero-tolerance policy on unverified numbers, we will not print an earnings schedule that has not been confirmed by an exchange filing or a company's own investor-relations release. Results dates in India are published through the BSE and NSE corporate-announcement portals once a board fixes them, typically with at least two clear working days' notice under the listing framework.

What that means in practice for the coming session: the return-filing and monetary-policy items above are the dated certainties, while any single-stock earnings move should be traced back to an official filing before you act on it. If your interest in earnings is really about compounding a lump sum through a results season rather than trading a single print, our lumpsum calculator shows how a one-time investment grows across holding periods at a rate you set. We will refresh this section the moment a confirmed results calendar is available.

FAQ

When is the GSTR-5 return due for a non-resident taxpayer?

Form GSTR-5 is due by the 13th of the month following the tax period, a date in force since October 2022 (it was the 20th from July 2017 to September 2022). For a short-term registration of one month or less, the return is instead due within seven days after the registration expires, whichever of the two is earlier. For the September 2026 period the deadline is 13 October 2026.

Who has to file GSTR-5?

Every registered Non-Resident Taxable Person (NRTP) - a person who occasionally supplies goods or services in India but has no fixed place of business here - must file GSTR-5 for each calendar month or part thereof. The obligation flows from Section 39(5) of the CGST Act, 2017. It applies whether or not the registration was active for the full month.

Does an NRTP have to pay tax in advance?

Yes. An NRTP must deposit an estimated tax amount for the full registration period at the time of applying for registration, which is granted for the period requested up to a maximum of 90 days at a stretch. That advance deposit is then reconciled against actual outward supplies in the monthly GSTR-5. This is distinct from income-tax advance tax, which follows a separate quarterly calendar.

Is GSTR-5 the same as GSTR-3B?

No. GSTR-3B is the monthly summary-cum-payment return filed by resident regular taxpayers on a staggered 20th, 22nd or 24th calendar. GSTR-5 is the dedicated monthly return for non-resident taxable persons, due on the 13th. A non-resident files GSTR-5, not GSTR-3B, and there is no separate GSTR-9 annual return for a pure NRTP.

What happens after the RBI meets on 5 to 7 October 2026?

The MPC will announce whether it holds the repo rate at 5.25% or moves it. As of the 5 August 2026 meeting the stance was neutral, with the SDF at 5.00% and the MSF at 5.50%. Any change resets EBLR-linked floating loan rates within roughly three months, so borrowers and depositors both watch the outcome, published at rbi.org.in.

Are any company earnings confirmed for 25 September 2026?

No results are confirmed on the Oquilia newsroom calendar for that session. Indian earnings dates are fixed by company boards and published through the BSE and NSE announcement portals, usually with prior notice under the listing rules. Always confirm an earnings date against the official filing before positioning around it.

How does non-resident status affect Indian income tax more broadly?

GST registration as an NRTP is separate from income-tax residency, which is decided by physical-presence day counts in a financial year. Where a non-resident's home country has a tax treaty with India, the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) allocates taxing rights - though India retains the right to tax capital gains at 12.5%. See our glossary entries on residential status and DTAA for the underlying definitions.