Tax Payable Against Tax explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Part IV has one column the taxpayer can change and one he cannot. Tax payable is editable; tax paid is locked to GSTR-3B. That asymmetry is the entire design — it makes an unpaid liability appear as a gap on the face of the return, rather than surviving into the reconciliation statement.
Part IV requires "the details of tax, interest, late fee, penalty and other amounts payable and paid thereon on a cumulative basis for the financial year." Its purpose is "to get the consolidated value of tax liability self-assessed including tax payable on additional liability which has not been reported yet and tax paid, discharged in the monthly returns." "Details of tax paid i.e., payment through cash and payment through ITC is auto-populated in Table 9 and it is non-editable field", while "tax payable column of Table 9 is kept editable and therefore taxpayer may change the value, if required."
Where each column comes from
Tax paid — from GSTR-3B, split between cash and ITC, and locked.
Tax payable — auto-populated from Table 6.1 of GSTR-3B, but only in one direction: "If liability reported in the Table 6.1 of GSTR 3B is positive (Gross minus negative liability) then such positive net tax liability be auto populated in the Table 9 under tax payable. However, if net amount in table 6.1 is appearing in negative then no amount will be auto populated under Tax payable column."
And it should be corrected to Table 4N: "As regards 'tax payable', the same must be in alignment with taxable turnover in Sl. No. 4, particularly Table 4N of Form GSTR-9."
Why the two columns are drawn from different places
The Guide explains the design directly:
"where taxable turnover reported in Form GSTR-1 and Form GSTR-3B are in agreement with each other, there would be no 'new' tax liability identified for the first time in Form GSTR-9. However, where they are not in agreement, which is often the case, taxable turnover reported in Form GSTR-1 and that on which tax is discharged through Form GSTR-3B may not be in agreement. It is for this reason that Table No. 9 captures 'tax payable' based on Form GSTR-9 (4N) but 'tax paid' based on Form GSTR-3B."
And the consequence, traced through to the reconciliation statement:
"a quick reference to instructions against Sl. No. 9Q (of Form GSTR-9C) will reveal that 'tax payable' must flow from Table 9 along with taxes admitted against Sl. No. 10 and 11 of Form GSTR-9. Tax payable, therefore, could not be based on the actual Form GSTR-3B so as not to continue the error in Form GSTR-9C but put to rest by registered person admitting short-payment and by verifying the same in the reconciliation."
The conclusion the Guide reaches is worth stating plainly:
"'tax payable' is a conclusion that is being reached in this annual return and must be correctly admitted by the registered person, and 'tax paid' cannot be anything more than that already discharged from time to time vide Form GSTR-3B — and if not discharged yet, then through Form GST DRC-03 in cash must be paid."
So the gap between the columns is not an error in the form. It is the return's mechanism for surfacing a short payment, and the only way to close it is a cash payment through DRC-03.
The three scenarios, applied to Table 9
Reading Part IV with the reporting rules from the Press Release of 4 June 2019:
| Situation | Table 4 / 9 | Table 10-11 / 14 | Payment route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid through GSTR-3B or DRC-03 in the reporting FY | Yes | No | Already paid |
| Paid through GSTR-3B of the next FY up to the specified date | No | Yes | Already paid |
| Not paid, being admitted now | Yes | No | DRC-03, in cash |
And the total picture: "The given details along with differential tax details declared in Sl. No. 14 in Part V shall assume the total tax liability for the financial year which is calculated, declared and discharged by the registered person up to the date of filing the annual return."
Table 9 plus Table 14 is the year's complete liability. Part V, Tables 10 to 14 →
Interest, late fee and penalty
Interest. "interest admitted and paid must be reported here. The details of interest paid under section 50 can be captured from Table 5.1 & 6.1 of Form GSTR-3B… can also be cross-verified with credit and debit entries relating to interest in the electronic liability register."
Note the phrasing — "admitted and paid". Part IV reports interest that was actually discharged, not a computed exposure.
Late fee. From the same Tables 5.1 and 6.1 of GSTR-3B, "for late filing of any of the GST returns on which late fee was levied and paid", likewise cross-verifiable against the electronic liability register.
Penalty and other dues. "In Form GSTR-3B, there is no table specified for payment of any penalty or other dues. However, under the law there can be instances where a person filing an annual return might have paid penalty due to various instances."
So the penalty row has no auto-populated source at all — it must be built from the electronic liability register and payment records directly.
The electronic liability register is the common check across all four rows, and is the one source that shows interest, late fee and penalty as separately identified debits.
Key takeaways
- Part IV reports tax, interest, late fee, penalty and other amounts payable and paid, cumulatively for the year.
- Tax paid is auto-populated from GSTR-3B and non-editable, split between cash and ITC.
- Tax payable is editable and auto-populates from Table 6.1 of GSTR-3B only when positive.
- Tax payable must be aligned to Table 4N, not to GSTR-3B — deliberately, so that an error is not carried into GSTR-9C.
- Sl. No. 9Q of GSTR-9C draws tax payable from Table 9 together with Tables 10 and 11.
- "Tax payable is a conclusion reached in this return"; tax paid cannot exceed what GSTR-3B discharged.
- Any shortfall must be paid through DRC-03, in cash — the credit ledger cannot be used.
- Table 9 plus Table 14 is the year's total liability up to the date of filing.
- Interest and late fee come from Tables 5.1 and 6.1 of GSTR-3B; penalty has no GSTR-3B source and must come from the electronic liability register.
Read next
- GSTR-9 Part V: Tables 10 to 14, the Next-Year Corrections
- GSTR-9 Table 5N: Total Turnover, and What It Excludes
- GSTR-9: Primary Data Source — GSTR-1, GSTR-3B or Books?
Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on Form GSTR-9 and Form GSTR-9C and their instructions, section 50 of the CGST Act, 2017 and the CBIC Press Release dated 4 June 2019, as reproduced in the ICAI Technical Guide on GST Annual Return (Form GSTR-9).