Last updated: 24 August 2026. The window to opt into or out of the QRMP scheme for the October–December 2026 quarter runs from 1 August to 31 October 2026. That single window does both jobs: a monthly filer uses it to go quarterly, and a quarterly filer uses it to go back to monthly. Miss it and your current filing frequency simply carries on into the next quarter, because the option renews itself under the first proviso to Rule 61A(1).
Applicability Note: This guide is based on GST provisions applicable as of 24 August 2026. Eligibility turns on your own aggregate turnover figure and on returns already filed against your GSTIN. Always verify the current position on gst.gov.in or with a GST professional before taking action.
Who Should Care?
This applies to:
- Businesses already on QRMP who are wondering whether quarterly filing is still working for them
- Monthly filers with aggregate turnover up to ₹5 crore in FY 2025-26 who have never tried the scheme
- Anyone whose turnover has grown and who may be pushed out of the scheme by Rule 61A(2) rather than by choice
- Businesses with several GSTINs on one PAN, since the election is made registration by registration
1. The Window Is Open, and It Closes a Month Into the Quarter It Governs
Rule 61A(1) sets the timing. The option is exercised on the common portal "from the 1st day of the second month of the preceding quarter till the last day of the first month of the quarter for which the option is being exercised". For October–December 2026, the preceding quarter is July–September, its second month is August, and the first month of the target quarter is October. So the window opened on 1 August 2026 and shuts on 31 October 2026.
Rule 61A of the CGST Rules was inserted by Notification No. 82/2020-Central Tax dated 10 November 2020 and took effect on 1 January 2021. It sits under the proviso to Section 39(1) of the CGST Act, which lets the Government notify a class of registered persons who furnish returns quarterly. That proviso arrived with the substitution of Section 39 by section 97 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019, brought into force on 10 November 2020 by Notification No. 81/2020-Central Tax dated 10 November 2020 — the same day the four QRMP notifications were issued.
Two things about that closing date catch people out. First, 31 October falls inside the quarter you are choosing for, not before it. Second, the choice is quarter-wide. If you opt out on 20 October, October does not become a monthly month from the 20th onwards. The whole of October, November and December moves to the monthly cycle, so your October GSTR-1 is due 11 November 2026 and your October GSTR-3B is due 20 November 2026.
The switch lives on the portal at Services > Returns > Opt-in for Quarterly Return. Do it once, for the GSTIN you mean, and check the confirmation before you close the tab.
2. Your FY 2025-26 Turnover Number Is Now Settled
Eligibility rests on aggregate turnover, computed PAN-wide across all your registrations. Notification No. 84/2020-Central Tax dated 10 November 2020 notifies the class that may file quarterly: registered persons with aggregate turnover of up to ₹5 crore in the preceding financial year, other than a person referred to in Section 14 of the IGST Act. For the October–December 2026 quarter, the preceding financial year is FY 2025-26.
That number stopped moving recently. The AATO amendment window for FY 2025-26 ran from 1 to 31 July 2026, with jurisdictional officer review from 1 to 15 August 2026, per the GSTN advisory dated 1 July 2026. Whatever figure your dashboard shows now is the figure your eligibility is tested against. If you asked for an amendment in July, open the portal and confirm what came out of the review before you rely on it.
There is a second test running alongside, and it works the other way. Under the substantive text of Rule 61A(2), a registered person whose aggregate turnover exceeds ₹5 crore during the current financial year must move to monthly filing from the first month of the quarter following the quarter in which the threshold was crossed. That is not a choice and it does not wait for a window. If your FY 2026-27 turnover crossed ₹5 crore during July–September, monthly filing starts with October, whatever the portal shows on 30 October.
One more detail worth knowing if you hold several registrations: the election is made GSTIN by GSTIN. Two registrations on the same PAN can sit on opposite sides of the scheme, which is often the right answer when one branch invoices a handful of large B2B customers and another sells retail.
3. The Same Quarter, Two Ways
Here is what October–December 2026 looks like on each side of the switch. The quarterly GSTR-3B date depends on your principal place of business, which is the same 22nd or 24th split covered in the piece on the quarterly GSTR-3B.
| Obligation | Monthly filer | QRMP filer |
|---|---|---|
| Outward supplies | GSTR-1 on 11 Nov, 11 Dec 2026 and 11 Jan 2027 | One quarterly GSTR-1 on 13 Jan 2027, plus the optional IFF on 13 Nov and 13 Dec 2026 |
| Return and tax | GSTR-3B on 20 Nov, 20 Dec 2026 and 20 Jan 2027 | PMT-06 challan on 25 Nov and 25 Dec 2026; one quarterly GSTR-3B on 22 or 24 Jan 2027 |
| December tax | Paid with the December GSTR-3B | No third challan — Month 3 settles inside the quarterly GSTR-3B |
| Your GSTR-2B | Three statements: 14 Nov, 14 Dec 2026 and 14 Jan 2027 | One statement for the whole quarter on 14 Jan 2027 |
| Late fee events per year | 24 (twelve GSTR-1 and twelve GSTR-3B) | 8 (four GSTR-1 and four GSTR-3B) |
Note the last row of the middle column. Payment does not become quarterly under QRMP. Only the return does. The PMT-06 challan for Months 1 and 2 is due on the 25th of the following month under Notification No. 85/2020-Central Tax dated 10 November 2020 read with Circular No. 143/13/2020-GST dated 10 November 2020, and the current one, for July 2026, is due Tuesday, 25 August 2026. The mechanics of the fixed sum challan and the self-assessment route are set out in the guide to paying tax through PMT-06.
4. What Your Buyers See, and Why It Decides This for Some Businesses
The strongest argument against QRMP has nothing to do with your own workload. It is what a B2B customer sees.
If you file quarterly and skip the Invoice Furnishing Facility, an invoice you raise in October reaches a monthly-filing buyer's GSTR-2B only after your quarterly GSTR-1 is filed on 13 January 2027, so it lands in the statement generated on 14 January. That is a long wait for credit on an October purchase, and buyers notice.
The IFF is the fix. Under Rule 59(2), a QRMP filer may upload B2B invoices for Months 1 and 2 of a quarter by the 13th of the following month, capped at ₹50 lakh per month. It is optional and carries no late fee, but it expires: the October window shuts on 13 November 2026 and cannot be reopened. Our piece on using the IFF works through when it is worth the effort.
One qualification matters here. This timing applies to a buyer who files monthly. A buyer who is himself on QRMP receives a single quarterly GSTR-2B on the 14th of the month after the quarter ends, per the GSTN advisory on GSTR-2B and IMS dated 16 November 2024. Filing the IFF does not accelerate anything for that buyer, so the case for uploading depends on who is actually buying from you.
5. Reasons to Leave, Reasons to Stay
Opting out tends to be right when your customers are mostly registered businesses reconciling credit every month, when your ITC regularly exceeds your output tax so the fixed sum challan overpays and parks money in the cash ledger (the self-assessment route avoids that, at the cost of the fixed sum safe harbour), or when you are approaching ₹5 crore anyway and would rather switch on your own timetable than be moved by Rule 61A(2) mid-year.
Staying tends to be right when you sell mainly to consumers or unregistered buyers, when four filing events a year rather than twelve is a real saving in fees and attention, or when the fixed sum method's safe harbour genuinely helps: deposit the auto-calculated challan on time for Months 1 and 2 and no interest arises on those months even if actual liability was higher, provided the quarter's full liability is discharged by the quarterly GSTR-3B due date.
What should not drive the decision is late fees. Both returns carry the same figures — ₹50 per day total (₹25 CGST plus ₹25 SGST), ₹20 per day total for a nil return, capped by turnover slab at ₹2,000, ₹5,000 or ₹10,000 total and ₹500 total for nil — but under separate instruments: Notification No. 19/2021-Central Tax dated 1 June 2021 for GSTR-3B and Notification No. 20/2021-Central Tax dated 1 June 2021 for GSTR-1. Quarterly filing gives you fewer chances to be late, not a cheaper late fee. Interest under Section 50 runs at 18% per annum either way, per Notification No. 13/2017-Central Tax dated 28 June 2017.
6. Three Things That Catch People Out at the Switch
An unfiled return. The second proviso to Rule 61A(1) bars the option where the last return due on the date you exercise it has not been furnished. The portal applies this as a check on your last due GSTR-3B. Someone with a pending return discovers this on 31 October, which is the worst possible day to discover it.
Saved GSTR-1 data for the target quarter. Per the portal's QRMP FAQ, you cannot opt in for a quarter if details have already been saved in GSTR-1 for that quarter. Those saved records have to be deleted first. If you started keying October invoices into a monthly GSTR-1 and then decided to go quarterly, clear them before you try to switch.
Assuming somebody will ask you. Nobody will. Under the first proviso to Rule 61A(1), an option once exercised continues for future tax periods until you become ineligible or you choose monthly filing. There is no annual renewal and no reminder. If you joined QRMP in 2022 and have not thought about it since, you are still in it.
Key Takeaways
- The QRMP window for October–December 2026 runs 1 August to 31 October 2026 under Rule 61A(1), and the same window handles both opting in and opting out.
- The switch applies to the whole quarter, not from the date you flip it. Opting out on 20 October makes October a monthly month, due 11 November and 20 November 2026.
- Eligibility is tested on aggregate turnover up to ₹5 crore in FY 2025-26 (Notification No. 84/2020-Central Tax dated 10 November 2020); that figure has been settled since the officer review closed on 15 August 2026.
- Crossing ₹5 crore during FY 2026-27 forces monthly filing from the first month of the next quarter under Rule 61A(2), with no window and no election.
- Payment stays monthly under QRMP. PMT-06 for July 2026 is due Tuesday, 25 August 2026.
- Check two things before 31 October: that your last due GSTR-3B is filed, and that no GSTR-1 details are saved for the October–December quarter.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the last date to opt out of QRMP for the October–December 2026 quarter?
31 October 2026. Rule 61A(1) allows the option to be exercised until the last day of the first month of the quarter concerned. The same date applies to opting in.
If I opt out in October, do I still file a quarterly return for October?
No. The change covers the entire October–December quarter, so October is filed monthly: GSTR-1 by 11 November 2026 and GSTR-3B by 20 November 2026. There is no part-quarter filing.
Do I have to opt in again every year?
No. Under the first proviso to Rule 61A(1), the option carries forward automatically for future tax periods until you opt for monthly filing or become ineligible. Nothing prompts you to reconfirm.
My turnover crossed ₹5 crore this year. When do I have to start filing monthly?
From the first month of the quarter succeeding the quarter in which aggregate turnover crossed ₹5 crore, under Rule 61A(2). Cross it during July–September 2026 and monthly filing starts with the October 2026 tax period. This is mandatory, not an election.
Can I use QRMP for one GSTIN and file monthly for another on the same PAN?
Yes. The GST portal's QRMP FAQ confirms the election is made GSTIN by GSTIN, so registrations under a common PAN can be treated differently. The ₹5 crore turnover test, however, is computed PAN-wide.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional tax advice. GST rules are subject to frequent changes through notifications and circulars. Please consult a qualified tax professional or verify the current provisions on the official GST portal (gst.gov.in) before making any compliance decisions.
Have a specific question about whether QRMP still suits your business? Our GST experts can help → gstconsultancy.com