How to Set GSTR-3B Deadline Reminders (Google Calendar, Tasks, Make.com)

GSTR-3B deadline reminders help you start early. A reminder will not, by itself, save you from late fee or interest. It can still help you start early, check GSTR-2B when it is actually ready, fund your cash ledger, and file by the due date.

You can do most of this with Google Calendar alone, on a free Google account. Google Tasks can repeat the same monthly checklist. Make.com is optional, if you want the reminder also to go to email or Telegram. Make has a Free plan with limits, so this is not a guaranteed zero-cost pipeline.

When GSTR-3B is actually due

For monthly filers, Form GSTR-3B is due on or before the 20th day of the month succeeding the tax period. This is section 39(1) of the CGST Act, read with Rule 61.

For quarterly filers under the QRMP scheme, the due date depends on the State or Union territory of your principal place of business, as set out in the table in Rule 61:

• 22nd of the month after the quarter, if your principal place of business is in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, or Lakshadweep.
• 24th of the month after the quarter, if it is in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh, or Delhi.

The official GST portal guide states the same 20th / 22nd / 24th pattern, and it also states that the Government can extend a due date by notification. Before you treat a date as final, check the latest news on gst.gov.in or the GST portal.

QRMP filers still pay tax for the first two months of the quarter. Under Rule 61(3), that payment is made in FORM GST PMT-06 by the 25th day of the month succeeding each of those months. Set a separate reminder for those two 25ths. They are not the GSTR-3B due date.

The law requires you to furnish the return on or before that day. It does not say “11:59 PM.” File earlier in the day if you can. The portal is often slow on the last evening.

Filing is mandatory even if there is no business in that period.

What you risk if you miss the date

A reminder reduces the chance of a miss. It does not “ensure you never incur” late fee or interest.

Late fee is under section 47. Notification No. 76/2018–Central Tax waives the late fee on GSTR-3B to the extent it exceeds ₹25 central tax per day, or ₹10 central tax per day where the central tax payable in that return is nil. An equal State or Union territory late fee usually applies, so the per-day totals are commonly ₹50, or ₹20 for a nil central-tax return.

From the tax period June 2021 onwards, Notification No. 19/2021–Central Tax also caps the central tax late fee, as follows:

If your preceding year's turnover was above ₹5 crore and the return is not a nil-central-tax return, Notification 19/2021 does not give a lower cap. The Act's own maximum of ₹5,000 central tax (and the matching State or UT fee) then continues to apply.

Interest is separate. Section 50(1), read with Notification No. 13/2017–Central Tax, charges interest at 18% per year on delayed tax. For supplies of that period declared in a GSTR-3B filed after the due date (and not after specified demand proceedings have started), interest is levied only on the tax paid by debiting the electronic cash ledger — that is, the net cash liability. Rule 88B sets out the manner of calculation.

You also cannot keep putting off an old return forever. Section 39(11), inserted by the Finance Act, 2023, says you shall not be allowed to furnish a return after three years from the due date, unless the Government, on the Council's recommendation, allows it by notification. The GST portal has a process to apply for unbarring in some cases. Do not rely on that as a planning tool.

Figures in GSTR-3B are auto-populated from GSTR-1 / GSTR-1A and GSTR-2B. Follow the portal as it stands when you file, including any warning or lock it shows on those figures. Correct outward supplies in GSTR-1 or GSTR-1A where the portal requires that, rather than only typing over a 3B figure.

First check GSTR-2B — it is ready on the 14th, not the 12th

For monthly recipients, Form GSTR-2B is generated on the 14th day of the succeeding month. For quarterly recipients, the quarterly GSTR-2B is generated on the 14th day of the month after the quarter. That is the official GST portal FAQ.

The Invoice Management System (IMS) has been in use from the October 2024 tax period. A draft GSTR-2B is still generated on the 14th. If you take no action on an invoice in IMS, it is generally treated as accepted. If you accept, reject or keep a record pending after that draft is generated, you must recompute GSTR-2B before you file GSTR-3B, so that the updated ITC flows into the return.

From the October 2025 tax period, IMS also lets you keep specified credit notes and certain amendments pending for one more tax period. After that window, pending is turned off, and a record with no action is treated as deemed accepted. Check the current IMS advisories on the GST portal, because this facility is still being updated.

So do not set your “check GSTR-2B” reminder on the 12th. The statement is not generated then. You may start compiling your books earlier, but the 2B and IMS check belongs on the 14th or 15th.

A staggered calendar, not a single alarm on the due date

In Google Calendar, create a separate monthly repeating event for each milestone, on that date every month. Official Google Calendar help covers recurring events, including a monthly repeat. Add an email or pop-up notification, and a second notification a few hours earlier if you want a backup.

Ready-to-copy table — monthly filers (due on the 20th)

Ready-to-copy table — QRMP (quarterly) filers

If a due date is officially extended, change that month's event. Do not assume next month is also extended.

Google Tasks, if you want a repeating checklist

Google Tasks can repeat a task on a monthly cycle. Official Google help covers repeating tasks in Google Tasks and Google Calendar. You can use this for the same milestones: compile books, check GSTR-2B after the 14th, review the draft return, confirm the cash balance, and file. A repeating task is a reminder. It does not file the return for you.

Make.com, only if you want a push to email or Telegram

You do not need Make.com if Calendar notifications already reach you. If you still want a message in Gmail or Telegram, you can add a small scenario on Make's Free plan.

On the official Make pricing page, as checked on 10 November 2026 (Asia/Calcutta), the Free plan includes 1,000 credits a month. Other limits — how many scenarios can stay switched on, and the shortest schedule interval — depend on your plan. Check Make's pricing page when you set this up, because those limits can change. If you run out of credits, the scenario stops until credits are added again.

A simple pattern is:

1. A Schedule trigger (or a Google Calendar trigger such as Watch Events) that runs a few days before your due date — for a monthly filer, that is often the 17th, three days before the 20th.
2. A Telegram Bot or Gmail module that sends a short alert, for example: “Reminder: GSTR-3B for last month is due on the 20th. Finish reconciliation, check GSTR-2B / IMS, and review the cash ledger.”
3. For QRMP, use the 22nd or 24th, and add separate runs for the PMT-06 25ths.

Check the current module names in Make when you build this. Connecting Gmail or Google Calendar requires you to sign in with Google and grant the permissions on the consent screen. Follow Google's and Make's current prompts.

You can also start a scenario from a webhook, if your accounting software can send one when a period closes. That is optional. It is not a built-in GST portal feature, and it is not free if the software itself is paid.

How this ties in with your GST tools

The GST calculator helps you work out the tax on a value. The GST invoice generator helps you raise an invoice. Neither tool files GSTR-3B or sends these reminders. For the tax heads in the return, see How to calculate CGST, SGST and IGST. For ITC set-off once the credit is in your ledger, see How to utilise IGST, CGST and SGST credit. For reverse-charge rows in GSTR-3B, see How to report RCM tax and claim ITC in GSTR-3B. For invoice particulars, see How to create a GST invoice and a salary slip online.