By an advisory dated 13 October 2026, GSTN announced that GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C for FY 2025-26 have been enabled on the GST portal from 8 October 2026. Under Rule 80 of the CGST Rules, both are due by 31 December 2026. The GSTR-9 tile opens only after every GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B for FY 2025-26 has been filed.

Who must file

• Regular taxpayers with aggregate turnover above ₹2 crore in FY 2025-26. Notification 15/2025-Central Tax exempts turnover up to ₹2 crore from FY 2024-25 onwards.
• Taxpayers with aggregate turnover above ₹5 crore must also file GSTR-9C, the self-certified reconciliation statement.
• Aggregate turnover is counted across all GSTINs under the same PAN.

What to do

• File any pending GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B for FY 2025-26 first.
• Claim any missed FY 2025-26 input tax credit before you file GSTR-9. Filing the annual return before 30 November 2026 closes that window early under section 16(4).
• File by 31 December 2026. A late fee runs for each day of delay. No extension had been notified as of 19 October 2026.

For how GSTR-9 differs from the composition return, see our GSTR-4 vs GSTR-9 guide.

Sources: GSTN advisory of 13 October 2026 (ICAI mirror), A2Z Taxcorp.