The Sales Tax Bar Association, one of India’s oldest and most respected bodies of tax professionals, has formally written to the Ministry of Finance on October 3, 2025. In that representation the association urged the government to make Forms GSTR 9 and GSTR 9C available on the GST portal for the financial year 2024-25 without further delay.
GSTR 9 is the annual return form under GST that summarizes the data given in the monthly/quarterly returns. whereas GSTR 9C is the reconciliation statement that compares the figures in the annual return with the audited financial statements. Such submissions are mandatory for those taxpayers whose turnover exceeds the prescribed limits under Section 44 of the CGST Act 2017 and Rule 80 of the CGST Rules 2017.
The point of concern is straightforward. By established practice these forms are normally enabled on the portal by April 1 of the year following the financial year. For 2024-25 they remain inaccessible even several months later. That is not merely an inconvenience. It creates real, practical problems for taxpayers and the professionals who assist them, as detailed here-under:
i) delay ledas to unnecessary compliance bottlenecks: The time intervals for income tax audit and filing of GST annual returns are coinciding, and due to the non-availability of the official GST annual and reconciliation forms, there is a problem of accurate matching of audit figures with GST filings. For the members of the profession this implies that they have to perform the same work twice, there is a higher possibility of errors, they have to do the work in a hurry which is near the deadline for filing, and there is also the risk that they might be penalized if their filings are late or inaccurate.
ii) ability to reconcile figures is compromised: Without the official annual return and reconciliation statement taxpayers cannot properly cross check data from GSTR 1, GSTR 3B and the audited accounts. That raises the likelihood of discrepancies and disputes down the line.
iii) Erosion of trust in the system: The best situation of tax obedience is when the system is predictable and administratively reliable. Repeated and/or elongated delays in the use of statutory forms have a great impact on the level of trust not only among taxpayers but also among the professionals who advise them.
In its communication, the Sales Tax Bar Association addressed the Honorable Finance Minister with a request to arrange activation/availability of GSTR 9 and GSTR 9C for the 2024-25 financial year as soon as possible. The association pointed out that the availability of these forms on time is not only a matter of comfort but also a requirement under the statutory framework. Besides, it indicated that early release would facilitate the correctness of the returns, lessen the number of the contentious issues between taxpayers and the authorities, and promote voluntary compliance.