Last updated: June 2026 | Reviewed by the EasyTax GST Compliance Team, Jaipur

If you're registered under the GST Composition Scheme, GSTR-4 is the one annual filing you can't afford to overlook. It brings together a full year of CMP-08 payments, turnover, and purchase data into a single reconciliation statement. This guide covers everything composition taxpayers need to know about the GSTR-4 due date for FY 2025-26 — who must file, what information goes into the form, the step-by-step filing process on the GST portal, late fees, and the most common mistakes that trip up small businesses every year.

What Is GSTR-4?

GSTR-4 is the annual return prescribed under Rule 62 of the CGST Rules, 2017, for every taxpayer registered under the GST Composition Scheme (Section 10 of the CGST Act, 2017). Unlike regular taxpayers, who file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B every month, composition dealers pay tax at a fixed percentage of turnover and report it through quarterly CMP-08 statements.

GSTR-4 is the once-a-year return that ties all of this together. It consolidates the full financial year's turnover, the tax already paid through the four CMP-08 challans, details of inward supplies (purchases), and any additional tax, interest, or late fee still due. In effect, it's the annual reconciliation that closes out a composition taxpayer's GST compliance for the year.

Who Should File GSTR-4 for FY 2025-26?

The following categories of taxpayers must file GSTR-4 for FY 2025-26:

• Traders and manufacturers with aggregate turnover up to ₹1.5 crore (₹75 lakh in special category states) who have opted for the Composition Scheme under Section 10
• Restaurants and food service businesses not serving alcohol, registered under the Composition Scheme
• Service providers, and mixed suppliers of goods and services, with turnover up to ₹50 lakh who have opted for the special composition scheme under CGST (Rate) Notification No. 2/2019
• Taxpayers who opted into or out of the Composition Scheme partway through FY 2025-26 (file for the period the scheme applied)
• Composition taxpayers with zero transactions during the year — a Nil GSTR-4 is still mandatory

Regular taxpayers filing monthly GSTR-1/GSTR-3B, Input Service Distributors, non-resident taxable persons, and TDS/TCS deductors are not required to file GSTR-4.

GSTR-4 Due Date for FY 2025-26

For FY 2025-26, the GSTR-4 due date is 30th June 2026.

This deadline has shifted in recent years, which is a common source of confusion. Originally, GSTR-4 was due by 30th April following the close of the financial year. Following the 53rd GST Council meeting, the CBIC issued Notification No. 12/2024-Central Tax dated 10th July 2024, extending the due date to 30th June starting from FY 2024-25 onward — giving composition dealers an extra two months to reconcile their books before filing.

Unless the CBIC issues a further extension notification closer to the deadline, composition taxpayers should plan to file by 30th June 2026.

What Information Does GSTR-4 Require?

GSTR-4 is organised into several tables on the GST portal, each capturing a specific category of information for the financial year:

• Basic details — GSTIN, legal/trade name, and aggregate turnover of the previous financial year (auto-populated)
• Inward supplies (Table 4) — purchases from registered suppliers, supplies attracting reverse charge from registered or unregistered persons, and import of services
• CMP-08 summary (Table 5) — auto-populated summary of all four quarterly CMP-08 statements filed during the year
• Outward supplies / turnover (Table 6) — turnover bifurcated by the applicable composition tax rate (1%, 5%, or 6% depending on the nature of the business)
• Tax, interest & late fee (Table 7) — total liability payable and paid for the year
• Refund (Table 8) — any refund claimed from the electronic cash ledger

Most turnover and tax-paid figures are auto-populated from CMP-08. The inward supplies section (Table 4) requires manual entry and is typically where most preparation time goes.

How to File GSTR-4 Online: Step-by-Step

1. Log in to the GST portal at gst.gov.in using your GSTIN credentials.
2. Go to Services > Returns > Annual Return, select GSTR-4 for FY 2025-26, and click Prepare Online.
3. Review the auto-populated data — turnover from the previous year and tax paid through CMP-08 for all four quarters appear automatically. Cross-check these against your books.
4. Enter inward supply details in Table 4 — purchases from registered suppliers, reverse-charge supplies, and import of services.
5. Enter outward supply turnover in Table 6, split by the composition tax rate applicable to your business category.
6. Click Compute Liability to let the system calculate your final tax, interest, and late fee, if any.
7. If the computed liability exceeds what was already paid via CMP-08, pay the balance using Form DRC-03.
8. Preview the return in PDF or Excel format and verify every entry carefully — GSTR-4 cannot be revised once filed.
9. File the return using a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) or Aadhaar-based EVC (OTP).

Late Fee & Penalty for Missing the GSTR-4 Due Date

If GSTR-4 for FY 2025-26 isn't filed by 30th June 2026, the GST portal automatically calculates the following late fees:

In addition to the late fee, 18% per annum interest is charged on any tax amount paid after the due date, calculated from the day after the due date until the date of actual payment.

Beyond late fees, continued non-filing can trigger a system-generated GSTR-3A notice and, in persistent cases, may affect the standing of the composition registration. The GST portal has also begun enforcing a three-year filing window for past returns — once a GSTR-4 due date is more than three years old, the return can no longer be filed on the portal. Clearing pending years promptly is important to avoid losing the ability to file altogether.

GSTR-4 vs CMP-08: Key Differences

In short: CMP-08 is how composition taxpayers pay tax through the year, while GSTR-4 is the annual statement that ties everything together.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Skipping the Nil return when there's no business activity — it's still mandatory and accrues late fees if missed
• Mismatched figures between CMP-08 payments and the final liability computed in GSTR-4
• Forgetting to report reverse-charge inward supplies (from unregistered dealers, GTA services, etc.) in Table 4
• Incorrect bifurcation of turnover by tax rate in Table 6, especially for businesses dealing in both goods and services
• Filing in a hurry without previewing the return — since GSTR-4 cannot be revised, errors carry into the following year
• Letting multiple years' GSTR-4 returns pile up, risking the three-year filing cutoff