QRMP monthly tax via challan: pay GST every month even while filing returns quarterly

Small businesses on the Quarterly Return, Monthly Payment (QRMP) scheme face a hard checkpoint on Wednesday, 22 July 2026: the quarterly GSTR-3B for Q1 of FY 2026-27 (April to June 2026) falls due for taxpayers registered in Category X states and union territories. It is the single most consequential compliance date on tomorrow's calendar, and it doubles as the moment the QRMP machinery clicks over into its second year for lakhs of registrants whose aggregate turnover stayed within Rs 5 crore. The scheme, run by the GST Network under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, lets these taxpayers file their GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B once a quarter while still depositing tax every month through a Form PMT-06 challan. If you have been treating "quarterly return" as "quarterly payment", tomorrow is when that misreading turns into an interest bill.

The distinction sits at the heart of Section 39 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hosted on indiacode.nic.in), which empowers the government to prescribe quarterly returns with monthly payment for a notified class of registered persons. QRMP is that class in practice. A dealer in Maharashtra with Rs 3.2 crore of turnover does not have to touch the return portal in April, May, June or July for GSTR-3B — but the tax due for April and May had to be paid by 25 May and 25 June 2026 respectively, and the balance for the whole quarter is settled through the return that closes tomorrow. Miss the payment leg and the quarterly return you file on 22 July 2026 carries interest at 18% per annum on the shortfall, computed under Section 50 of the CGST Act.

Statutory Deadlines

Tomorrow's deadline is state-specific. Category X states and UTs file quarterly GSTR-3B on the 22nd of the month following the quarter; Category Y files on the 24th. So the Q1 FY 2026-27 return is due Wednesday, 22 July 2026 for Category X and Friday, 24 July 2026 for Category Y. Getting the category wrong is the most common QRMP error, because the two-day gap tempts Category X filers into thinking they have until the 24th.

Category X covers Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and the union territories of Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. Category Y covers everything else, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states. A late GSTR-3B attracts a late fee of Rs 50 per day (Rs 20 per day for a nil return), so a return filed even three days late on a live liability starts stacking both interest and fee.

There is a second deadline worth diarising even though it is not tomorrow: the PMT-06 challan for July 2026 — the first month of the new quarter Q2 (July to September) — is due on Tuesday, 25 August 2026. QRMP taxpayers pay tax for the first two months of every quarter by the 25th of the succeeding month, and only the third month's dues get squared up inside the quarterly GSTR-3B. Businesses that also fall under the income-tax net should not confuse this with the advance-tax cycle; the first advance-tax instalment for AY 2027-28 was due 15 June 2026, and you can size the next instalment with our advance tax calculator. For a refresher on how the tax year is bracketed, see the glossary entry on the financial year.

Market Events

The dominant "market event" for a QRMP taxpayer is not a central-bank meeting — it is the monthly challan itself, because the method you pick to compute it changes your working-capital position. The scheme offers two routes under Rule 61A of the CGST Rules, 2017, and the choice is made challan by challan.

The Fixed Sum Method carries a genuine safe harbour: if you deposit the system-generated 35% challan on time for months one and two, no interest is charged for those months even if your actual liability turns out higher, provided the quarterly GSTR-3B is filed by its due date. That protection vanishes under the Self-Assessment Method, where interest at 18% per annum runs on any short payment. This is the trade-off businesses should weigh tomorrow as they close Q1 and set the template for Q2.

The broader rate backdrop stays supportive for the small firms QRMP serves. The RBI Monetary Policy Committee held the repo rate at 5.25% on 8 April 2026, its second consecutive pause after a cumulative 125 basis points of cuts through 2025, per rbi.org.in. A stable policy rate keeps working-capital loan resets predictable, which matters when a business is timing GST outflows against receivables. None of this changes the GST calendar, but it frames why cash-flow discipline around the 22nd and the 25th is worth the effort.

Earnings

No individual company results are confirmed in tomorrow's editorial briefing, and this desk does not publish an earnings calendar it cannot verify against a filed exchange notice. What is verifiable is the compliance-earnings link that QRMP creates for every small enterprise: the GSTR-3B filed on 22 July 2026 is the document that fixes the quarter's net GST liability, and that number feeds straight into the provisional profit picture a proprietor or a small private company carries into its own books.

For the roughly Rs 5-crore-and-below cohort, the quarter closing tomorrow is effectively a mini results day. Reconciling the GSTR-2B auto-drafted input tax credit against the purchase register before filing decides how much cash actually leaves the business. A dealer who books Rs 1.8 lakh of GST on sales for the quarter but claims Rs 1.1 lakh of eligible ITC pays Rs 70,000 net — and the two PMT-06 challans already deposited in May and June are set off against that figure inside the return. You can model the tax component of an invoice on our GST calculator before you file. Businesses opting instead for the composition or presumptive route should compare the arithmetic with the presumptive tax calculator, since QRMP and composition are mutually exclusive registration choices.

What to do before the portal closes

Three actions clear the tomorrow checkpoint. First, confirm your state category — Category X files 22 July, Category Y files 24 July — because a Category X taxpayer who waits for the 24th is already two days late. Second, verify that both PMT-06 challans for April and May 2026 were deposited by 25 May and 25 June; if either was missed, expect interest at 18% per annum on the shortfall under Section 50 of the CGST Act, 2017. Third, reconcile GSTR-2B input tax credit against your books before hitting file, because ITC not reflected in the auto-drafted statement cannot be claimed in the same return.

Looking ahead, the opt-in and opt-out mechanics matter for anyone whose turnover is drifting toward the Rs 5 crore line. The QRMP window for a quarter is quarter-specific — for Q1 the window ran from 1 February to 30 April — and a taxpayer stays in QRMP until they actively opt out or breach the turnover ceiling. Cross the Rs 5 crore aggregate-turnover threshold in a financial year and you move to monthly GSTR-3B from the next quarter automatically. Keep the number under watch, because the scheme's entire benefit is the once-a-quarter return, and that benefit is only available while you remain eligible.

FAQ

What is the QRMP scheme and who can use it?

QRMP stands for Quarterly Return, Monthly Payment. Under the GST Network's framework, a registered person with aggregate turnover up to Rs 5 crore in the current and preceding financial year can file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B once a quarter while paying tax monthly through a Form PMT-06 challan. It is enabled under Section 39 of the CGST Act, 2017.

Do I pay GST monthly or quarterly under QRMP?

You pay monthly and file quarterly. Tax for the first two months of each quarter is deposited by the 25th of the following month through PMT-06, and the balance is settled in the quarterly GSTR-3B. For Q1 FY 2026-27, the April and May challans were due 25 May and 25 June 2026; the quarterly return closes on 22 July 2026 for Category X states.

What is the difference between the 22nd and 24th due dates?

The quarterly GSTR-3B is due on the 22nd for Category X states and UTs (largely southern and western India) and on the 24th for Category Y (largely northern, eastern and north-eastern India). For Q1 FY 2026-27 that means Wednesday, 22 July 2026 or Friday, 24 July 2026 depending on your principal place of business.

What is the Fixed Sum Method for PMT-06?

The Fixed Sum Method pre-fills the monthly challan at 35% of the cash tax paid in the preceding quarter (for prior quarterly filers) or 100% of the last month's cash tax (for prior monthly filers). Pay it on time and no interest applies to those months even if actual liability is higher, provided the quarterly GSTR-3B is filed by its due date, per Rule 61A of the CGST Rules.

What happens if I miss a PMT-06 payment?

Interest accrues at 18% per annum on the unpaid tax from the day after the due date until payment, under Section 50 of the CGST Act, 2017. A late quarterly GSTR-3B additionally attracts a late fee of Rs 50 per day (Rs 20 per day for a nil return), so a missed challan followed by a late return compounds the cost.

Can I switch out of QRMP?

Yes. Opt-out windows are quarter-specific — for Q1 the window ran from 1 February to 30 April 2026 — and you can move to monthly filing at the start of a quarter. A taxpayer whose aggregate turnover crosses Rs 5 crore during a financial year is shifted to monthly GSTR-3B from the next quarter automatically.

Is QRMP the same as the composition scheme?

No. QRMP taxpayers charge and collect GST at normal rates and claim input tax credit; they simply file less often. The composition scheme is a separate, lower-rate regime without ITC. The two are mutually exclusive, so a business must choose one registration path and cannot combine the quarterly-return benefit of QRMP with composition rates.