Key takeaways
What this article covers, in order:
- Why file anything if nothing happened?
- Is your month actually nil?
- Filing a nil return on the GST portal
- Filing a nil return by SMS
- A worked example: Rohan's first quarter
- What if you've already missed some nil returns?
Rohan took a GST registration for his new café in Goa before the fit-out was done. Three months later, no sales, no bills, and a notice-style message on the portal about pending returns. If that sounds familiar, here's the fix. A nil return is a GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B that reports nothing for the period, and you still have to file it. It's free, takes a few minutes on the portal, and can even be done by SMS. The tricky part is knowing whether your month is genuinely nil.
Why file anything if nothing happened?
Because the law asks every registered person to file returns for every period, whether or not there was business. GST registration is like a gym membership you can't pause. The portal doesn't know your café is still waiting for its espresso machine. It just sees a blank.
Skip the nil return and three things follow. A late fee builds up, ₹20 a day for a nil return up to a ₹500 cap per return. Your next return gets blocked, because the portal files in sequence. And if returns stay pending for long enough, the officer can start proceedings to cancel your registration.
Is your month actually nil?
This is where people get it wrong. "I didn't make money" isn't the test. The test is whether anything reportable happened at all.
| Check | Nil GSTR-1 | Nil GSTR-3B |
|---|---|---|
| Any sales at all, including exempt, nil-rated or non-GST supplies | Must be none | Must be none |
| Any advances received for services | Must be none | Must be none |
| Credit or debit notes issued | Must be none | Must be none |
| Purchases on which you pay tax under reverse charge | Not relevant | Must be none |
| Input tax credit you want to claim | Not relevant | Must be none |
| Interest or late fee payable from earlier | Not relevant | Must be none |
Look at that last column carefully. If you bought a laptop with GST and want to claim the credit, your GSTR-3B isn't nil. Claim the credit through a normal return instead, so it carries forward in your credit ledger for when sales start.
Same with reverse charge. Paid an advocate's fee? Hired a goods transport agency? You may owe tax under reverse charge even with zero sales. That's not a nil month.
And exempt sales count as sales. If you sold fresh vegetables, which are exempt, that goes in GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B. It's not nil.
Filing a nil return on the GST portal
For GSTR-1: Log in, go to Services, then Returns, then Returns Dashboard. Pick the year and period and open GSTR-1. The portal asks whether you want to file a nil return. Tick yes, preview, and file with EVC or DSC.
For GSTR-3B: Same route. When the portal asks if you want to file a nil return, tick yes. It'll confirm that you had no outward supplies, no reverse-charge liability, no credit to claim and nothing else to report. Proceed to file, verify, and save the ARN.
If you're on QRMP, you file nil GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B once a quarter. There's no IFF or PMT-06 to deal with in a nil month, because there's nothing to upload and no tax to pay.
The whole thing takes about five minutes once you're logged in. Most of that is the OTP.
Filing a nil return by SMS
This surprises a lot of people. You can file both returns by text message from your registered mobile number, without logging in.
Send to 14409:
- For GSTR-1:
NIL R1 <GSTIN> <MMYYYY> - For GSTR-3B:
NIL 3B <GSTIN> <MMYYYY>
So for Sep 2026, it would look like NIL 3B 30ABCDE1234F1Z5 092026 (that GSTIN is made up). You'll get a six-digit code back. Reply with CNF 3B <code> (or CNF R1 <code> for GSTR-1) and you're done. You'll get the ARN by SMS and email.
A few conditions apply. The SMS must come from the authorised signatory's mobile number registered on the portal. Every earlier return has to be filed already. You can't have any pending liability, interest or late fee. And the month has to be genuinely nil by the test above. QRMP filers use the quarter-end month in the period code.
These formats have been stable for a while, but the portal's own help page is the final word. Check it if the SMS bounces.
A worked example: Rohan's first quarter
Rohan's café registration was effective 1 Jul 2026. He opted for QRMP. (He's an illustrative example.)
Jul–Sep 2026: no sales, but in Aug 2026 he bought a commercial coffee machine for ₹1,50,000 plus ₹27,000 GST from a registered dealer in Panaji. He also paid a GTA for delivery.
Is his GSTR-1 for the Jul–Sep 2026 quarter nil? Yes. No sales, no advances, no notes. He can file it as nil, by SMS or on the portal, by 13 Oct 2026.
Is his GSTR-3B for the quarter nil? No. He has ₹27,000 of credit to claim, and possibly reverse-charge tax on the freight. He should file a regular GSTR-3B by 22 Oct 2026 so the credit lands in his ledger, ready to use when the café opens. If he'd filed it as nil, the credit wouldn't vanish forever, but he'd have to claim it in a later return within the time limit, and it gets messy. His CA can confirm whether that GTA freight attracts reverse charge in his case.
What if you've already missed some nil returns?
File them now, oldest first. The portal won't let you skip ahead anyway.
For each missed nil return, the late fee is ₹20 a day up to ₹500, so a long-forgotten nil return costs ₹500 at most, under the current caps. That's for each return. Two returns a month, missed for six months, is twelve returns. It adds up.
If you're far behind, and especially if your registration has been suspended or cancelled, speak to a CA first. The steps to restore a cancelled registration are different from just filing late.
Also watch the three-year time bar. Returns more than three years past their due date can't be filed on the portal any more. If you got a registration years ago and forgot about it, that's a conversation for a CA, not an SMS.
Thinking of cancelling instead?
If your business isn't going to start, or has wound up, filing nil returns forever isn't the answer. You can apply to cancel your registration on the portal. You'll need to file a final return, GSTR-10, after cancellation. Until the cancellation is approved, keep filing your nil returns.
How HelloBooks helps
Honestly, if every month is nil, you don't need software. SMS or the portal will do. HelloBooks becomes useful the day things start moving: your first invoice, your first purchase bill with credit to claim, your first reverse-charge payment.
On HelloBooks Free (₹0, no card, no expiry), you can raise GST invoices, record bills, reconcile GSTR-2B and file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B for one GSTIN directly to the GST portal from inside HelloBooks, including the quieter months, as often as you need. Free includes 2 users and up to 200 transactions a year. See the GST returns HelloBooks handles and the GSTR-3B filing page.
FAQs
Is there a fee to file a nil GST return?
No. Filing is free on the portal and by SMS. You only pay a late fee if you file after the due date.
What is the late fee for a late nil return?
₹20 a day (₹10 CGST plus ₹10 SGST), capped at ₹500 per return, under the current notifications. There's no interest, since there's no tax.
Can I file a nil GSTR-3B if I have input tax credit?
No. If you want to claim credit, it isn't a nil return. File a regular GSTR-3B so the credit goes to your ledger.
Can I file nil returns by SMS if I'm on QRMP?
Yes. Use the period code for the quarter-end month, and make sure all earlier returns are filed and there are no dues.
I had only exempt sales. Is that nil?
No. Exempt, nil-rated and non-GST supplies must be reported in GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B. A nil return means nothing at all happened.
A nil return is the easiest thing you'll ever file. Just don't forget it, and don't file one when your month wasn't really empty.
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