GSTR 10: What Is GSTR 10 And How To File It

Any individual or business which has registered on the GST portal and whose GST registration has been cancelled or surrendered has to file for GSTR 10. The GSTR 10 needs to be filed within 3 months of the date of cancellation or 3 months from the date of cancellation of the order.

The GSTR 10 is a statement of stocks that is held by the taxpayer on the day immediately preceding the date from which the cancellations of GST registration is made effective. It is the final return that is to be paid by taxpayers who wish to cancel or withdraw their GST registration.

This article aims to cover everything one needs to know about GSTR 10 right from what it is, how to file for it, what documents are required and the repercussions in case the form is not filed in time.

What is GSTR 10?

The Goods and Service Tax Return, form no 10 is a one time form that is to be filled by any registered GST taxpayer that wishes to cancel or withdraw their GST registration. Since the taxpayer wants to cancel their GST Registration, this is the final tax that is going to be paid by the registered user. Hence, GSTR 10 is like a closing form for an account.

A taxpayer could wish to withdraw their registration for multiple reasons such as closing down of a business, the business has been transferred, the business has been amalgamated with another business or the death of the business owner. Under such circumstances, the paperwork and compliance under the form GSTR 10 need to be followed.

When to file for GSTR 10?

Once the taxpayer has decided that they wish to cancel or surrender their GST Registration, within a period of 3 months from the date of cancellation or on the date of which the cancellation order was issued, whichever later, the taxpayer has to file for GSTR 10.

For example, if the date of cancellation is 1st Feb 2021 and the date of a cancellation order is 18th Feb 2021, then the GSTR 10 must be filed within 3 months from 18th Feb 2021. That is, the form can be filled anywhere between 18th Feb 2021 to 18th May 2021.

Pre-requisites required for filling for GSTR 10

Certain underlying conditions need to be met before one file for GSTR 10. Since the registered taxpayer has been in business for a while, there are certain documents that need to be presented before GSTR 10 is completed. Some of them are:

• The registered taxpayer needs to have a valid user ID and password on the portal.
• The taxpayer needs to have the 15 digit PAN which is based on the GSTIN.
• The registered taxpayer needs to have applied for the cancellation of the GST Registration on the GST portal. The order should be issued for cancellation of registration.
• In the case of suo-moto, i.e. cancellation of the registration by the tax authorities, an order has to be issued for cancellation of registration.

Details to be provided when filing for GSTR 10

The details that need to be provided for GSTR 10 are divided into 11 sections with the first 4 sections, which are the general GST details that need to be required. The other 7 are information that needs to be furnished.

1. GSTIN – The 15 digit PAN card number that is given to a registered GST user.
2. Legal Name – The name under which is business is registered.
3. Business/ Trade Name – The name under which the entity conducts business
4. Address of the entity – Registered address of that needs to be mentioned on the GST portal
5. The effective date of surrender or cancellation – The date on which the cancellation has been done or the order of the cancellation needs to be mentioned.
6. Reference Number of the cancellation – In case the application for cancellation has been accepted, you will receive an Application Reference Number.
7. Cancellation order has been passed  – Here you need to mention whether the cancellation is a voluntary cancellation or whether the tax authorities have passed an order.
8. Unique ID of Cancellation Order – If the registration is cancelled by the tax authorities, a unique ID will be provided from their end. This unique ID needs to be an input in this section.
9. Particulars of Closing Stock – The registered taxpayer needs to declare and mention all the closing stock that is left over in the business during the time of cancellation. Details of input tax credit also need to be mentioned during filing for closing stock.
10. Amount of Taxable on Closing Stock and Tax Paid – Once the closing stock has been accounted for, the amount of tax that is to be paid on the closing stock needs to be mentioned here. Also, tax that is already been paid or ITC reversal tax will be an input in this section. In case there is any interest that is to be paid, late fees, all the inputs would be added in this section too.
11. Verification – The final step is to confirm all the information that has been added, verify it and submit the GSTR 10.

What happens once the GSTR 10 form is filled?

Once the GSTR 10 form is verified and submitted, an ARN is generated on the successful submission of the form. At the same time, the registered individual will receive an SMS and an email ID on the registered number and email address. This will confirm the submission of the form GSTR 10.

All the other forms, ledgers will be updated once the set off liabilities have been completed successfully. The documents will also be made available to the tax officials.

Documents and paperwork that needs to be accounted for once GSTR 10 is complete

Even after the cancellation of GSTR 10 is complete, there are some records that need to be maintained:

• Purchase Register
• Sales Register
• Stock Register
• Input Tax Credit (ITC) availed
• Register of Goods Produced
• Output Tax Paid
• Output Tax Liability

Post the 15 day period also if the registered taxpayer fails to file and pay for the final return – GSTR 10, the tax authorities will pass a final order of cancellation with the amount of GST payable and any access interest or fine.