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Documentation

GST Accounts & Records

Documents Required
Types of Records
Retention Period
Consequences of Non-Maintenance

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Goods & Services Tax

GST Accounts & Records

Every Registered Person is required to keep and maintain the following records at the Principal Place of Business — either manually or in electronic form.
🏭
Register of Goods Manufactured
🛒
Purchase Register
🧾
Sales Register
📦
Stock Register
📥
Input Tax Credit Availed
📤
Output Tax Liability
💳
Tax Paid
📂
Other Records as Applicable
📅

General Retention Rule

Every Registered Person is required to maintain books of accounts for a period of 72 months (6 years) from the due date of furnishing the annual return (i.e. 31st December of the following year) of a particular financial year.

📁   72 months  |  6 Years from Annual Return Due Date
For Instance: Books of Account for FY 2017–18 — where the Annual Return due date is 31.12.2018 — must be retained till 31.12.2024.
⚖️

Under Appeal or Investigation

If the registered person is a party to any proceedings before any authority (First Appellate) or is under investigation, the person must maintain the books for a period of 1 year after the order of such proceedings/appeal has been passed.

Important: This extended period applies irrespective of the standard 72-month rule and overrides it wherever proceedings are ongoing.
⚖️   +1 Year after final order of proceedings
⚠️

Consequences of Non-Maintenance of Records

Failure to maintain proper GST records can trigger serious legal and financial consequences under the GST Act.

1
Deemed Supply of Unaccounted Goods / Services
If the registered person fails to maintain proper records in respect of goods or services, the Proper Officer shall treat such unaccounted goods / services as if the registered person had supplied them.
2
Tax Liability Determination
The Proper Officer will determine the tax liability on such unaccounted goods / services, which the registered person will be required to pay.
3
Penalty
In addition to the tax determined, the registered person may be required to pay a penalty as may be imposed by the officer in this regard.