Uploading of invoices and filing of GSTR 1

1. As per the provisions of the GST laws, every registered
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   normal and casual taxpayer (taxpayers not falling under any special category) has to declare the details of outward supplies in format GSTR-1.

2. Though the GSTR-1 for July is required to be filed between 1^st to 5^th September 2017, it is advisable not to wait till the last minute to file the return. The functionality for uploading invoice details GSTR 1 has been made available for registered taxpayers on the GST Portal since 24^th July 2017.

3. On 25^th and 28^th August, the filing dates for GST Return 3B are also completed.  Therefore, you must begin to upload your invoices immediately in order to file your GSTR 1 for the month of July. .

Invoices and other documents can be uploaded by any of the following methods:

1. a) If you have limited number of entries, you can directly enter the details on the GST portal. You need to log in to the GST portal using your user ID and password and navigate to the return dashboard page where you can click on the prepare online tab available on GSTR 1 tile to prepare your return online. 

1. b) An excel based offline tool is also provided at https://www.gst.gov.in/download/returns . This can be downloaded and installed on your computer to prepare the return in an offline mode using excel without connecting to internet.

Benefits and main features of offline tool (mentioned at b above) are:

• The GSTR 1 Excel worksheet can be used to prepare data for GSTR 1 without connecting to Internet in offline mode
• Can fill in invoices data up to 19, 000 line items using excel utility in offline mode.
• Taxpayer can upload invoices in GSTR 1, more than once, at any time during the day/week/month. 
• Offline tool also performs certain computations and validation to minimize errors in Return preparation
• The invoices uploaded in GSTR 1 by supplier will be auto populated in GSTR 2A of the receiver and will be available for view to the receiver. This will help your buyer reconcile his purchases.

4. So please don't wait till the last date to upload invoices. You can upload daily or weekly at your convenience. There is a Help Section on GST Common Portal for any further assistance or click on the link https://www.gst.gov.in/help/helpmodules/