How GSTR-1 late fees are calculated

Late fee on GSTR-1 is charged per day of delay under Section 47 of the CGST Act. The statutory rate is ₹100 per day under CGST plus ₹100 per day under SGST, but CBIC notifications have reduced it, and the reduced rates are what actually apply.

The rates that apply in practice

• Return with outward supplies: ₹25 CGST + ₹25 SGST = ₹50 per day of delay.
• NIL return: ₹10 CGST + ₹10 SGST = ₹20 per day of delay.

The count runs from the day after the due date until the day you actually file, both heads accruing together. There is no separate IGST late fee.

The caps are based on turnover

Late fee for GSTR-1 is capped per return, and the cap depends on your aggregate annual turnover in the preceding financial year:

Worked examples

20 days late, regular return, turnover ₹80 lakh. 20 × ₹50 = ₹1,000. Below the ₹2,000 cap, so ₹1,000 is payable.

60 days late, regular return, turnover ₹80 lakh. 60 × ₹50 = ₹3,000, but the cap for this slab is ₹2,000, so ₹2,000 is payable. Past day 40 the fee stops growing.

60 days late, NIL return. 60 × ₹20 = ₹1,200, capped at ₹500.

Three consecutive months, each 45 days late, turnover ₹3 crore. 45 × ₹50 = ₹2,250 per return, under the ₹5,000 slab cap, so ₹6,750 in total across the three.

Late fee is not interest — they are separate

GSTR-1 reports outward supplies; it does not carry a tax payment. Interest under Section 50 at 18% per annum attaches to tax paid late through GSTR-3B, not to a late GSTR-1. A business that files both late owes the daily late fee on each return plus interest on the unpaid tax, and it is easy to budget for one and be surprised by the other.

The knock-on effects cost more than the fee

• Your buyers lose visibility of their credit. Until you file, your invoices do not appear in their GSTR-2B, so they cannot claim that ITC. For a large buyer this is the point at which they start withholding payment.
• Filing is sequential. You cannot file a period's GSTR-1 while an earlier one is outstanding, so one skipped month blocks every month after it.
• GSTR-1 can be blocked by an unfiled GSTR-3B. Failing to file GSTR-3B for the preceding period restricts your ability to furnish GSTR-1.
• Returns time out permanently. A return that goes unfiled for three years past its due date can no longer be filed at all, which leaves the period unresolvable.

To put numbers on a specific delay, use the GST penalty calculator. And since an invoice error usually means an amendment in a later return, it is worth validating the invoice before it goes into GSTR-1 in the first place.