GSTR-9C: The Reconciliation Statement Riding the Same 31 December GST Deadline

Every 31 December carries two filings, not one. The GSTR-9 annual return gets the headlines, but riding the exact same deadline is Form GSTR-9C, the reconciliation statement that squares a taxpayer's annual return against its audited financial statements. For the financial year 2025-26 that deadline falls on 31 December 2026, which is 99 days from today (23 September 2026). Tomorrow, 24 September 2026, is not itself a filing date, but it opens the compliance runway that a large registered person cannot afford to burn: GSTR-9C is not a form you assemble in the last week of December.

This watchlist sets out what falls due on the statutory calendar next, the market and rate events worth tracking into the fourth quarter, and why the reconciliation statement deserves a place on every finance team's September planning board rather than its December panic list.

Statutory Deadlines

The reconciliation statement in Form GSTR-9C is filed under Section 44 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, read with Rule 80 of the CGST Rules, 2017. It is due on 31 December following the close of the financial year, so the FY 2025-26 statement must be filed on or before 31 December 2026. It is submitted on the GST portal together with the GSTR-9 annual return, not as a standalone document.

Not every registered person files it. GSTR-9C applies only where aggregate turnover in the financial year exceeds Rs 5 crore; the GSTR-9 annual return itself is optional for taxpayers with turnover up to Rs 2 crore and mandatory above that. Since FY 2020-21, the statement is self-certified by the taxpayer: the earlier requirement for certification by a chartered accountant or cost accountant was removed by the Finance Act, 2021 and given effect from 1 August 2021, when the amended Section 44 substituted a self-certified reconciliation for the audited one.

Miss the date and the late fee is charged under Section 47 of the CGST Act. The fee structure was rationalised by Notification 07/2023-Central Tax dated 31 March 2023, which tied the per-day charge to turnover slabs and capped it as a percentage of turnover in the State or Union Territory. Because GSTR-9C is filed as part of the annual-return package, a delay in the package attracts the Section 47 fee shown below; taxpayers should treat the two forms as a single deadline.

Two other statutory dates sit on the near horizon and belong on the same board. The third instalment of advance tax for FY 2026-27 falls due on 15 December 2026, by which a taxpayer must have paid 75% of the estimated annual liability; the second instalment, taking the cumulative figure to 45%, was already due on 15 September 2026. Anyone still estimating their liability should read our advance tax and self-assessment tax explainers before the December window opens, because a shortfall triggers interest under Sections 234B and 234C of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Form 15G and Form 15H are the third item. These are self-declarations filed under Section 197A so that a bank does not deduct TDS on interest where the declarant's estimated total income keeps tax at nil; Form 15H is for residents aged 60 and above and Form 15G for other residents below that age. They are financial-year declarations, so a fresh submission is required for FY 2026-27, and a declarant who has since crossed the tax threshold must not file one. Senior citizens relying on deposit income should re-check the arithmetic against their scheme rates before signing.

Market Events

The rate calendar is where the fourth quarter earns its watchlist entry. The Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee holds its next scheduled review on 5-7 October 2026. At its previous meeting on 3-5 August 2026 the MPC voted unanimously to hold the repo rate at 5.25%, the fourth consecutive pause of 2026 after the February, April and June reviews; Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the committee wanted greater clarity on the inflation outlook before acting. The Standing Deposit Facility rate stands at 5.00% and the Marginal Standing Facility and Bank Rate at 5.50%. The October decision is the single most consequential rate event before the GST deadline, because EBLR-linked floating loans reset within roughly three months of any change.

The second dated event is the small-savings notification. Interest rates on Public Provident Fund, the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, the National Savings Certificate and their peers are reset quarterly by the Ministry of Finance, and the rates for the October-December 2026 quarter are due to be notified by the end of September 2026. For the July-September 2026 quarter the government left every rate unchanged - PPF at 7.1%, the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme at 8.2%, NSC at 7.7%, Kisan Vikas Patra at 7.5% on a 115-month maturity and the Post Office Monthly Income Scheme at 7.4%. Whether the run of stability extends into a tenth straight quarter is worth watching for anyone parking the surplus that a clean GST reconciliation frees up.

For investors weighing where that surplus should go, the maths of staggered versus one-shot deployment matters more than any single rate print. Model both with our SIP calculator and lumpsum calculator, and, for anyone whose income rises each year, the step-up SIP calculator shows how an annual increase compounds against the 7.1% PPF floor over a full horizon. None of these figures is a forecast; each is drawn from the government's own current notifications.

Earnings

No company results are confirmed on the newsroom calendar for 24 September 2026, and this desk does not publish an earnings date it cannot verify against an exchange filing. The Q2 FY 2026-27 reporting season for listed Indian companies conventionally opens in the second half of October 2026, once the quarter ending 30 September 2026 has closed and audit committees have met, so the near-term earnings flow into tomorrow's session is thin by design rather than by omission.

That timing is not incidental to the GST story. The September quarter-end that companies are about to report on is the same period whose books feed the FY 2025-26 reconciliation. A finance team closing the 30 September 2026 quarter is handling the ledgers, input-tax-credit registers and turnover figures that will later have to tie out in GSTR-9C. Teams that reconcile GSTR-2B input credit against the books monthly through the quarter, rather than in December, are the ones for whom the 31 December 2026 filing is a formality. Where a GMP-style shortcut or an unverified number would otherwise fill this slot, we would rather state plainly that there is nothing dated to report.

FAQ

What is the GSTR-9C reconciliation due date for FY 2025-26?

The GSTR-9C reconciliation statement for FY 2025-26 is due on 31 December 2026, the same date as the GSTR-9 annual return, under Section 44 of the CGST Act, 2017 read with Rule 80 of the CGST Rules. It is filed on the GST portal alongside the annual return.

Who has to file GSTR-9C?

Every registered person whose aggregate turnover in the financial year exceeds Rs 5 crore must file GSTR-9C, reconciling the figures in the GSTR-9 annual return with the audited annual financial statements. Taxpayers with turnover up to Rs 5 crore are not required to file it, and the GSTR-9 annual return itself is optional up to Rs 2 crore.

Does a chartered accountant still have to certify GSTR-9C?

No. Since FY 2020-21 the statement is self-certified by the taxpayer. The requirement for certification by a chartered accountant or cost accountant was removed by the Finance Act, 2021 and made effective from 1 August 2021, when the amended Section 44 replaced the audited reconciliation with a self-certified one.

What is the late fee for filing GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C late?

The late fee is charged under Section 47 of the CGST Act as rationalised by Notification 07/2023-Central Tax dated 31 March 2023: Rs 50 per day for turnover up to Rs 5 crore, Rs 100 per day for turnover between Rs 5 crore and Rs 20 crore, and Rs 200 per day above Rs 20 crore, each split equally between CGST and SGST and capped as a percentage of State turnover. GSTR-9C is filed as part of the annual-return package, so the package attracts this fee on delay.

When is the next advance-tax instalment after the GST deadline?

The third advance-tax instalment for FY 2026-27 is due on 15 December 2026, by which 75% of the estimated annual liability must be paid. The second instalment, at a cumulative 45%, fell due on 15 September 2026. Shortfalls attract interest under Sections 234B and 234C of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

When is the Reserve Bank's next policy meeting?

The Monetary Policy Committee's next scheduled review is on 5-7 October 2026. At its 3-5 August 2026 meeting the MPC held the repo rate at 5.25% by a unanimous vote, the fourth consecutive pause of the year, with the Standing Deposit Facility at 5.00% and the Bank Rate at 5.50%.

Are the small-savings rates changing for the October-December 2026 quarter?

The Ministry of Finance is due to notify the October-December 2026 small-savings rates by the end of September 2026. For the July-September 2026 quarter every rate was left unchanged, including PPF at 7.1% and the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme at 8.2%. Confirm the new quarter's figures against the official notification before acting on them.