GSTR-10: Final Return After GST Cancellation — Due Date and Late Fee (2026)

Who must file GSTR-10

GSTR-10 applies to a registered person who was required to file returns under section 39(1) of the CGST Act — a normal taxpayer filing GSTR-3B — and whose registration has since been cancelled, whether the taxpayer applied for cancellation or the tax officer cancelled it.

Because the obligation is tied specifically to section 39(1) filers, several categories of registered persons fall outside GSTR-10 even after their registration ends:

• Composition taxpayers (they file returns under section 39(2), not 39(1))
• Input Service Distributors (section 39(4))
• Non-resident taxable persons (section 39(5))
• Persons required to deduct tax at source under section 51
• Persons required to collect tax at source under section 52
• Online Information and Database Access or Retrieval Services (OIDAR) providers

Section 45, CGST Act, 2017 — "every registered person who is required to furnish a return under sub-section (1) of section 39 and whose registration has been cancelled shall furnish a final return..."

Due date: three months from cancellation

The due date is three months from the date of cancellation or three months from the date of the order of cancellation — whichever falls later. This distinction matters when there is a gap between the effective date of cancellation and the date the officer actually issues the cancellation order.

Example: if the effective date of cancellation is 1 January but the officer signs the cancellation order only on 5 January, the GSTR-10 due date is 5 April, not 1 April.

GSTR-10 is filed electronically in FORM GSTR-10 through the GST common portal, or through a Facilitation Centre notified by the Commissioner.

Section 45, CGST Act, 2017 (three months of the date of cancellation or date of order of cancellation, whichever is later); Rule 81, CGST Rules, 2017 — "every registered person required to furnish a final return under section 45, shall furnish such return electronically in FORM GSTR-10 through the common portal."

What GSTR-10 asks for

The return captures the stock position on the date of cancellation: inputs held in stock, inputs contained in semi-finished or finished goods, and capital goods or plant and machinery on which credit was availed. Any input tax credit attributable to that stock — or the output tax on it, if higher — has to be reversed and paid.

Where the tax invoices for that stock are not available, the value has to be estimated at the prevailing market price, and that estimate must be certified by a practising Chartered Accountant or Cost Accountant before it goes into the return.

Rule 44(3), CGST Rules, 2017 — stock valued at prevailing market price where invoices are unavailable, "duly certified by a practicing chartered accountant or cost accountant."

Late fee if you miss the deadline

GSTR-10 falls under the returns covered by section 47(1) of the CGST Act, which sets a late fee of ₹100 for every day of delay, subject to a maximum of ₹5,000 — charged separately, and identically, under the SGST/UTGST law. In practice that means the delay costs ₹200 a day combined, capped at ₹10,000 total, until you file.

Section 47(1), CGST Act, 2017 — late fee of ₹100 per day of default in furnishing a return required under section 39 or section 45, subject to a maximum of ₹5,000; an identical amount applies under the corresponding SGST/UTGST provision.

Late-fee amnesty: this figure moves, check the current notification

The ₹200-a-day, ₹10,000-cap late fee above is the standing statutory position under section 47(1). It is not the only number you will see quoted, because CBIC has periodically issued time-bound notifications that cap the GSTR-10 late fee much lower for taxpayers who file within a specific window.

One example: Notification No. 08/2023-Central Tax, dated 31 March 2023, capped the late fee at ₹1,000 total (₹500 CGST + ₹500 SGST) for GSTR-10 filed between 1 April 2023 and 30 June 2023, with the balance waived. That window was later extended to 31 August 2023 by Notification No. 26/2023-Central Tax, dated 17 July 2023.

That specific scheme has long since closed, and quoting its ₹1,000 figure today would be wrong. Whether a fresh amnesty window is open right now is exactly the kind of thing that changes without warning — this number is set per financial year, so check the current CBIC notification for GSTR-10 before assuming either the ₹10,000 statutory cap or an older reduced cap applies to your filing.

Notification No. 08/2023-Central Tax, dated 31 March 2023; Notification No. 26/2023-Central Tax, dated 17 July 2023 (window extension) — both CBIC, Department of Revenue.

What happens if you never file it

Non-filing does not just sit there accumulating late fee. Under section 46 of the CGST Act, read with Rule 68, the proper officer can issue a notice in FORM GSTR-3A to a person who has failed to furnish a return required under section 39 or section 45, giving fifteen days to file.

If GSTR-10 still is not filed after that notice, section 62 allows the officer to raise a best-judgment assessment of your tax liability using whatever data is available — past returns, e-way bills, GSTR-1 data — without waiting further for your return.

Section 46 read with Rule 68, CGST Act/Rules, 2017 (FORM GSTR-3A notice, fifteen days); Section 62, CGST Act, 2017 (best-judgment assessment of non-filers under section 39 or 45). If your registration is still active, the ongoing returns are GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B.

Primary sources

The dates and fees on this page are read off the statute and CBIC’s own notifications, not copied from other guides. You can check every one of them:

• Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 — sections 47 (late fee) and 50 (interest)
• CBIC — GST notifications and circulars
• CBIC — GST portal
• GST portal (gst.gov.in) — where the return is actually filed