The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) has announced that the annual return filing facility in Forms GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C for the financial year 2025-26 is available on the GST portal from October 8, 2026.
GSTN asked taxpayers to ensure that all returns in Forms GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B for FY 2025-26 have been filed. Completion of these filings is necessary to enable the GSTR-9/9C tile on the portal.
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The advisory therefore makes completion of the financial year’s periodic return filings a prerequisite for accessing the annual return facility. Taxpayers with pending GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B returns for the relevant year should first complete those filings before proceeding with their annual compliance.
The operational clarification is particularly relevant for taxpayers who cannot access the GSTR-9/9C tile despite the facility having been enabled.
According to the advisory supplied, taxpayers must check whether every applicable GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B return for FY 2025-26 has been furnished. The announcement concerns the availability of the annual filing facility and the prerequisite for enabling access; it does not announce any relaxation from pending periodic return obligations.
Reports reproducing the advisory also confirm the October 8 activation date and the requirement to complete the relevant GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filings.
With the annual return facility available, taxpayers preparing their filings should review their records for FY 2025-26 and check the consistency of the information they intend to report.
As a practical preparation step, businesses should compare their books of account with the returns filed during the year and examine differences relating to turnover, tax liability, input tax credit and tax payments. Any differences should be understood and supported by appropriate records before the annual filing is completed.
The availability of the GSTR-9/9C tile should also be distinguished from the question of whether a particular taxpayer is required to file either form. The supplied advisory does not prescribe turnover thresholds or set out taxpayer-specific exemptions.
GSTN has advised taxpayers requiring assistance with annual return filing to raise a ticket through its self-service helpdesk at https://selfservice.gstsystem.in/.
Taxpayers reporting a technical issue can include the relevant financial year, the form concerned, a description of the problem and screenshots of any error message to help explain the difficulty.
The advisory’s immediate direction is clear: taxpayers seeking to access the annual return facility for FY 2025-26 should ensure that their GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filings for the year are complete and use the GSTN helpdesk where filing assistance is required.
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