QRMP Scheme: Quarterly GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B Filing Calendar for Turnover up to Rs 5 Crore

Small businesses under the Goods and Services Tax net begin the week of 17 August 2026 inside a live compliance window that most owners overlook: the opt-in and opt-out facility for the Quarterly Return Monthly Payment (QRMP) scheme for the October to December 2026 quarter is open from 1 August 2026 to 31 October 2026, per the GST Network profile-change FAQ. Any taxpayer with PAN-based aggregate annual turnover up to Rs 5 crore has to decide, before that window closes, whether to keep filing monthly or move to quarterly filing with monthly tax payments. This watchlist maps every date on the QRMP calendar you should mark, the two state categories that decide your Form GSTR-3B due date, and the near-term deadlines that land in the second half of August 2026.

Statutory Deadlines

The QRMP scheme, introduced under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, lets an eligible taxpayer file Form GSTR-1 and Form GSTR-3B once a quarter while paying tax every month through a challan. Eligibility is fixed by turnover: the GST Network FAQ states the facility is open to taxpayers whose PAN-based aggregate annual turnover is up to Rs 5 crore in the current and preceding financial year. The moment your turnover crosses Rs 5 crore during a quarter, you become ineligible from the next quarter and must revert to monthly returns.

Here is the core filing calendar that a QRMP taxpayer runs on through the July to September 2026 quarter and beyond:

The GST Network FAQ confirms the IFF cut-off directly: "Last date of filing IFF for a month is the 13th of the next month." The IFF is optional and lets a QRMP filer upload business-to-business invoices for the first two months of a quarter so that their buyers can claim input tax credit without waiting for the quarterly GSTR-1. For the July to September 2026 quarter, the IFF for July 2026 fell due on 13 August 2026 and the IFF for August 2026 falls due on 13 September 2026.

The single most misread date is Form GSTR-3B. As the editor's briefing from the GST Network records, quarterly GSTR-3B is due on the 22nd or the 24th of the month after the quarter, and which of the two applies depends entirely on the principal place of business. The country is split into two state categories:

For the July to September 2026 quarter, a Category X taxpayer files quarterly GSTR-3B by 22 October 2026 and a Category Y taxpayer by 24 October 2026, while the quarterly GSTR-1 for both falls due on 13 October 2026. Miss the quarterly GSTR-3B and late fee plus interest accrue from that date, so the state you operate from is worth confirming before you plan the quarter.

Two nearer deadlines matter in the current fortnight. A QRMP taxpayer must deposit the July 2026 tax through Form PMT-06 by 25 August 2026, the 25th being the standing monthly cut-off for the first two months of every quarter. Separately, any taxpayer who did not join QRMP and continues on monthly returns must file Form GSTR-3B for July 2026 by 20 August 2026. The contrast is the whole point of the scheme: quarterly filers replace two extra monthly returns with a single challan.

Beyond GST, the direct-tax calendar carries one date to pre-empt. The second instalment of advance tax for the financial year 2026-27 falls due on 15 September 2026, by which 45 per cent of the estimated annual liability must be paid, per the schedule published by the Income Tax Department on incometax.gov.in. Business owners reconciling GST turnover this month should use the same books to true-up their advance-tax estimate, because both regimes read from the same financial year.

Market Events

The confirmed market-relevant event on the watch calendar for the week of 17 August 2026 is the QRMP election window itself, open until 31 October 2026. There is no Reserve Bank of India Monetary Policy Committee meeting or SEBI board meeting listed in the briefing for the immediate session, so this watchlist adds none; the point to track is a policy-driven compliance choice, not a rate decision.

The election is a genuine cash-flow decision rather than a formality. Under the fixed-sum route, a QRMP taxpayer can pay a pre-filled challan for months one and two, smoothing a lumpy quarter into predictable monthly outgo and protecting working capital. A business with seasonal sales, by contrast, may prefer the self-assessment route so it pays PMT-06 only on the tax actually due each month. Either way the quarterly rhythm frees up the two return-filing cycles a monthly taxpayer spends on GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, which for a small firm is real time reclaimed against a 13th-and-20th monthly grind.

That reclaimed cash flow is where the compliance calendar meets the markets. A promoter who plans the quarter well and knows the exact 22 October 2026 or 24 October 2026 GSTR-3B date can park surplus working capital instead of holding idle balances against an uncertain due date. Owners modelling that surplus can test a monthly deployment on the SIP calculator, a one-time surplus on the lumpsum calculator, or a rising contribution as turnover grows on the step-up SIP calculator.

The wider regulatory backdrop for the week is unusually busy on the consumer-finance side. The Reserve Bank of India has floated a draft that would cap floating loan-rate resets, detailed in our report on the three-month cap on floating loan rate resets, while the primary market is digesting the Rs 1,700 crore Lalithaa Jewellery IPO priced at Rs 190 to Rs 201. Derivatives traders, meanwhile, are working to SEBI's revised expiry-day settlement framework. None of these is a QRMP event, but all three shape the rate and market environment a GST-registered business plans around.

Earnings

No corporate results are confirmed on the briefing calendar for 17 August 2026, so this watchlist reports none rather than inventing an earnings schedule. For a small business, the number that behaves like an earnings print is its own aggregate turnover, and August is the month to check it against the Rs 5 crore QRMP ceiling before the 31 October 2026 election window shuts.

Aggregate turnover under GST is computed on a PAN basis, so it adds together the turnover of every GST registration held on the same Permanent Account Number across all states. A firm running three state registrations that each cross Rs 1.7 crore has already breached the Rs 5 crore line in aggregate, even though no single registration looks large. The table below shows how the same PAN can flip QRMP eligibility once the state-wise figures are summed:

A taxpayer who reads only one registration's books can wrongly assume QRMP eligibility and file quarterly when the law requires monthly returns, inviting late fees on every month wrongly skipped. This is why the mid-August turnover review matters as much as any listed company's quarterly result: it decides which filing track you are legally on for the October to December 2026 quarter. Firms close to the line should also revisit their self-assessment tax working, since a turnover that crosses Rs 5 crore often signals a larger income estimate for the 15 September 2026 advance-tax instalment too.

FAQ

What is the QRMP scheme and who is eligible in FY 2026-27?

The Quarterly Return Monthly Payment scheme lets a registered taxpayer file Form GSTR-1 and Form GSTR-3B quarterly while paying tax monthly by challan. Per the GST Network FAQ, it is open to taxpayers whose PAN-based aggregate annual turnover is up to Rs 5 crore in the current and preceding financial year.

When is the quarterly GSTR-3B due under QRMP?

Quarterly Form GSTR-3B is due on the 22nd of the month after the quarter for Category X states and the 24th for Category Y states. For the July to September 2026 quarter that means 22 October 2026 for Category X and 24 October 2026 for Category Y.

When must I pay tax if I file returns only quarterly?

Tax for the first two months of a quarter is paid through Form PMT-06 by the 25th of the following month. For July 2026 the PMT-06 challan is due on 25 August 2026, and for August 2026 it is due on 25 September 2026.

Can I switch in or out of QRMP right now?

Yes. The opt-in and opt-out window for the October to December 2026 quarter is open from 1 August 2026 to 31 October 2026, per the GST Network profile-change FAQ. A change made in this window applies from the October to December 2026 quarter.

What is the IFF and when is it due?

The Invoice Furnishing Facility is an optional filing that lets a QRMP taxpayer upload business-to-business invoices for months one and two so buyers can claim input tax credit sooner. The GST Network FAQ fixes its cut-off at the 13th of the next month, so the August 2026 IFF is due on 13 September 2026.

Does QRMP change my advance-tax dates?

No. QRMP governs GST return filing only. Advance tax remains due in four instalments under the Income Tax Act, with the second instalment for FY 2026-27 due on 15 September 2026 as published on incometax.gov.in.

What happens if my turnover crosses Rs 5 crore mid-year?

If PAN-based aggregate turnover exceeds Rs 5 crore during any quarter, you become ineligible for QRMP from the next quarter and must file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B monthly, with GSTR-3B then due on the 20th of the following month.