File Nil statement in GSTR-1 through SMS from July

Fulfilling GST compliance requirements is going to get a lot easier for over 12 lakh registered taxpayers as the Government has announced the provision of filing NIL statements for GSTR1 via Short Message Service (SMSM) starting July 2020. The Central Board for Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), who had started the same service for filing NIL GSTR3B returns in June 2020, has stated that this move will substantially improve ease of GST compliance. 

Taxpayers who wish to file NIL returns can undertake the following steps to file their GSTR1 return via SMS. 

Taxpayers will be required to send the following SMS to 14409.

NIL<space>R1<space>GSTIN number<space>Tax period (in MMYYYY). 

For instance: 

NIL R1 09XXXXXXXXXXXZC 042020 (for monthly return of April 2020) 

or 

NIL R1 09XXXXXXXXXXXZC 062020 (for quarterly return of April-June 2020)

Once the taxpayer initiates the filing of NIL GSTR1 return via SMS, they will receive a six-digit code with a validity up to 30 minutes. The taxpayer will need to confirm the validity of their NIL statement filing by sending the following SMS to 14409. 

CNF<space>R1<space> Six digital code

Once the six-digit code has been successfully validated, the taxpayer will receive an acknowledgement number via SMS.