GSTR-3B Return Worksheet (India): Tables, ITC and Set-off

About the GSTR-3B Return Worksheet (India): Tables, ITC and Set-off

GSTR-3B is the monthly (or quarterly) summary return in which you declare your outward supplies, take input tax credit and pay the tax. The portal pre-fills much of it from your GSTR-1 and your GSTR-2B, but the pre-filled figures are only as good as what was filed — and reversals, reclaims, reverse charge on imports of services and the order in which credit pays tax are yours to work out.

Add your GSTR-1 JSON (or IFF and GSTR-1A), your sales register from Tally, Busy, Zoho Books or any billing software, and your GSTR-2B. The worksheet fills Table 3.1 (taxable, zero-rated, nil-rated and exempt, non-GST and inward reverse charge), 3.1.1 (supplies under section 9(5)), 3.2 (inter-State supplies to unregistered persons, composition dealers and UIN holders, by place of supply), 4 (ITC available, reversals under rules 38, 42 and 43 and section 17(5), reclaimable reversals and reclaims), 5 and 5.1, then sets off the tax in the order of section 49 and rule 88A to show the cash to pay in each head. When both the books and GSTR-1 are given, it compares them document by document and says what to correct through GSTR-1A before you file. It prepares the figures; filing stays on the GST portal. Your files are read in your browser and never uploaded.

Without a pass the worksheet is a free preview: every table, count and check, with the amounts hidden; the Excel workbook, the PDF working paper and copying unlock with a Premium pass.

Common uses

• A business preparing its own GSTR-3B from its billing software and the portal’s GSTR-2B.
• An accountant or tax practitioner working the returns of several clients, each saved as a profile.
• Checking the pre-filled GSTR-3B before filing: what GSTR-1 and GSTR-2B put there, and why it differs from the books.
• Keeping a working paper of each return — the tables, the reversals and the set-off — for the file.

What fills each table

• 3.1(a), (b), (c), (e) and 3.2 come from GSTR-1 the way the portal auto-populates them: B2B, B2CL, B2CS, deemed exports, credit and debit notes, advances and amendments in 3.1(a); exports and SEZ supplies in 3.1(b); table 8 in 3.1(c) and (e). On supplies on reverse charge (GSTR-1 table 4B) only the taxable value is counted, as your customer pays the tax. Table 3.2 lists the inter-State part of 3.1(a) to unregistered persons, composition dealers (whose GSTINs you list in the client profile) and UIN holders, by place of supply; for return periods before October 2025 it also took inter-State advances.
• 3.1.1(ii) is the value of supplies made through e-commerce operators who pay the tax under section 9(5) (GSTR-1 table 14(b)); 3.1.1(i) is for operators, from table 15.
• 3.1(d) and Table 4 come from GSTR-2B: imports in 4A(1), reverse charge in 3.1(d) and 4A(3), ISD credit in 4A(4) and all other credit in 4A(5), each net of its credit notes (so a net figure can be negative); the rule 37A reversal GSTR-2B asks for in 4B(2); credit not available (the section 16(4) time limit and the place-of-supply rule) in 4D(2). Documents rejected in the Invoice Management System are not credit.
• Amendments add only their change. The worksheet finds the original in the GSTR-1 of the original period when you add it; otherwise it says which amendment it could not count.

Reversals, reclaims and what GSTR-2B does not have

• 4B(1) is for reversals that are final: rule 38 (banks and financial institutions), rules 42 and 43 (credit used for exempt supplies) and section 17(5) (blocked credit).
• 4B(2) is for reversals you can reclaim later: rule 37 (the supplier not paid within 180 days), section 16(2)(b) (goods or services not received) and 16(2)(c) (the supplier has not paid the tax), and credit the reconciliation report finds unsupported by your books.
• A reclaim goes back into 4A(5) and is shown again in 4D(1); the portal compares it with your Electronic Credit Reversal and Re-claimed Statement.
• Reverse charge on imports of services and on purchases from unregistered persons is not in GSTR-2B: enter it, and it goes into 3.1(d) and, as credit, into 4A(2) or 4A(3). Credit on reverse charge is taken only once the tax is paid.

Books against GSTR-1, and GSTR-1A

GSTR-3B is pre-filled from GSTR-1, so a document missing from GSTR-1, or reported with other values, makes the pre-filled return wrong. With both the sales register and GSTR-1, the worksheet lists the documents in one and not the other, the documents with different values or a different customer GSTIN, B2C (others) by place of supply and rate, and the difference in each row. GSTR-1A opens after GSTR-1 is filed and stays open until you file GSTR-3B for the same period: records can be added or amended there and the corrected values flow into GSTR-3B. The recipient’s GSTIN cannot be changed in GSTR-1A — that is done in a later GSTR-1.

Table 6.1: paying the tax

The credit available is your electronic credit ledger plus this period’s net ITC (4C). It pays the tax as section 49, section 49A and rule 88A require: IGST credit first pays IGST, and what is left of it pays CGST and SGST/UTGST in any order — the worksheet shares it where it saves the most cash — before their own credit; CGST and SGST credit never pay each other. A negative liability of earlier periods is adjusted first. Reverse charge, tax under section 9(5), interest and late fee are paid in cash only. Where rule 86B applies (taxable supplies over ₹50 lakh in a month, with no exception), at least 1% of the output tax is kept in cash.

Sources

• CGST Act section 16, section 17, section 39 and section 49; CGST Rules rule 37, rule 37A, rule 38, rule 42, rule 43, rule 61, rule 86B and rule 88A, on CBIC’s tax information portal
• GSTN: FAQs on Form GSTR-3B (what is auto-populated from GSTR-1 and GSTR-2B), the GSTR-3B user manual (Tables 4 and 6.1), FAQs on GSTR-2B, the GSTR-2B manual (the rule 37A reversal), FAQs on GSTR-1A and FAQs on the Invoice Management System
• The file formats of GSTN’s Returns Offline Tool (GSTR-1 JSON) and GSTR-2B Matching Offline Tool (GSTR-2B JSON)

Limitations

• It prepares figures; it does not file the return, pay the tax or log in to the GST portal.
• The interest and late fee of Table 5.1 are what you enter (the portal works them out); use the GST interest and late fee calculators to check them.
• An amendment counts only when the GSTR-1 holding its original is added; GSTR-2B amendments are taken from the GSTR-2B summary, so use the JSON that includes it.
• Composition dealers among your customers are known only from the GSTINs you list in the client profile; UIN holders are recognised from their GSTIN.
• Credit notes your customers rejected in the Invoice Management System come back to your liability on the portal; enter them under the other changes to 3.1(a).
• A working for your records, not tax advice; check the figures against the portal before you file.

Privacy

Your GSTR-1, sales register and GSTR-2B are read in this browser and never uploaded or stored. Client profiles and column choices are kept in this browser only, until you clear them.