ITC-04 Due Date for Job Work in FY 2026-27

Last updated: 26 October 2026

Quick Answer: The next ITC-04 due date is 25 April 2027 for all principals. Where aggregate turnover in FY 2025-26 exceeded ₹5 crore (half-yearly filing), it covers October 2026 to March 2027; the earlier April to September 2026 form was due on 25 October 2026. Where turnover in the preceding financial year was up to ₹5 crore (annual filing), it covers the whole of FY 2026-27.

HSAG Consulting can prepare ITC-04 alongside the GST returns it files for a principal.

Form GST ITC-04 is a declaration that a registered principal files to report inputs and capital goods sent to a job worker without payment of tax and received back. Its due date is prescribed in sub-rule (3) of rule 45 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, and the filing frequency (annual or half-yearly) depends on the principal's aggregate turnover in the preceding financial year.

According to Circular No. 38/12/2018-GST, Form GST ITC-04 acts as the formal intimation required under section 143 of the CGST Act, 2017 when a registered principal sends inputs or capital goods to a job worker without payment of tax. This guide sets out each ITC-04 due date for FY 2026-27, who files, what the form reports and what follows a missed filing.

Which ITC-04 period applies at your turnover?

The due date follows the specified period defined in the Explanation to rule 45(3) of the CGST Rules, 2017.

For FY 2026-27, the turnover test looks at aggregate turnover in FY 2025-26, the year immediately before FY 2026-27. A principal whose turnover exceeded ₹5 crore in FY 2025-26 has two specified periods of six consecutive months each, commencing on 1 April 2026 and 1 October 2026. A principal at or below ₹5 crore covers the whole financial year in one specified period.

Both groups therefore meet on the same date next year, although they report different periods.

Who has to file the ITC-04 form?

ITC-04 applicability rests on three facts: the sender is a registered person, the goods go to a job worker for treatment or processing, and they move without payment of tax under section 143 of the CGST Act, 2017. Such a registered person sending the goods is called the principal.

The principal that sends the goods must file Form GST ITC-04 and, under section 143(2) of the CGST Act, 2017, is also responsible for keeping proper accounts of the inputs or capital goods.

Frequency is set by turnover in the financial year that came just before the filing year. Because the rule tests the immediately preceding financial year, a principal that crosses ₹5 crore during a year moves to half-yearly filing only from the following year, not mid-year.

The GST portal manual for Form GST ITC-04 describes the form as a declaration furnished by registered persons in the capacity of principal, showing inputs or capital goods dispatched to or received back from a job worker. The same manual records that the portal shows an error when PROCEED TO FILE is clicked with no record added and all fields at zero, so a nil form cannot be filed online.

What does the ITC-04 form report?

The form reports the challans raised for goods moving to and from job workers' premises, and its tables distinguish registered and unregistered job workers. The form is divided into the following four tables:

• Table 4 covers inputs or capital goods sent for job work, including goods sent directly to the premises of the job worker.
• Table 5A covers details of inputs or capital goods received back from the job worker to whom they were sent, together with losses and wastes.
• Table 5B covers details of inputs or capital goods received back from a job worker other than the job worker to whom such goods were originally sent for job work, along with losses and wastes.
• Table 5C covers details of inputs or capital goods sent to a job worker and subsequently supplied from that job worker's premises, again with losses and wastes.

Each challan reported is issued under rule 45(1), and rule 45(2) requires it to carry the details that rule 55 of the CGST Rules, 2017 prescribes for a delivery challan. A single register of every challan and of the stock lying with each job worker makes the four tables quick to fill. This guide to outsourced accounting for a manufacturing company shows how such a register is kept alongside the input tax credit position.

How has the ITC-04 due date changed since 2021?

It moved from quarterly to half-yearly or annual filing. Earlier, Form GST ITC-04 was required to be filed on a quarterly basis for tax periods until September 2021. From October 2021, the form moved to a half-yearly or annual basis depending on the aggregate turnover of the taxpayer in the preceding financial year.

Current practice follows rule 45(3) of the CGST Rules, 2017: half-yearly above ₹5 crore and annual otherwise. Guides written before that change therefore show quarterly dates that no longer apply.

Is there an ITC-04 late fee for a missed filing?

No. As stated in the official GST portal FAQ guide, there is no prescribed late fee for a delayed ITC-04 form.

Section 47 charges late fees only on the details and returns it names, specifically under sections 37, 39, 44, 45 and 52, whereas Form GST ITC-04 is furnished under section 143 read with rule 45(3), which section 47 does not cover. However, a missed form remains due for its period and should be filed.

Penalty exposure therefore turns on the general provision. Where a contravention of the Act or the rules carries no separately provided penalty, section 125 of the 2017 Act allows a penalty which may extend to twenty-five thousand rupees. At its 57th meeting on 8 October 2026, the GST Council recommended reducing that ceiling to ₹10,000; this had not been notified at the time of writing.

What if goods sent to job workers are not received back or supplied in time?

The primary tax exposure remains tied to the underlying goods. Under section 143 of the CGST Act, 2017, inputs must be received back or supplied within one year, and capital goods, other than moulds and dies, jigs and fixtures, or tools, within three years. If these time limits are breached, the goods are deemed supplied on the day they were originally sent out. The Commissioner can extend these periods by up to one and two years respectively on sufficient cause. Once the deemed supply arises under section 143(3) and (4), rule 45(4) requires the principal to report it in Form GSTR-1 and pay the applicable tax with interest.

Tables 4 and 5A to 5C are where the principal shows which goods sent out have come back or been supplied, so a filed form keeps that challan trail intact for any later scrutiny.

Common Mistakes in ITC-04 Filing for Job Work

Principals repeat a small number of errors around ITC-04 filing and the form's contents. Each mistake below breaks a specific rule or portal requirement.

• Using the wrong frequency. Filing annually when preceding-year turnover crossed the ₹5 crore threshold, which requires half-yearly filing under rule 45(3).
• Testing turnover against the wrong year. The ₹5 crore threshold looks at aggregate turnover in the financial year just before the filing year, that is, the preceding financial year. A principal that grew during FY 2026-27 still files Form GST ITC-04 for FY 2026-27 on the basis of FY 2025-26 turnover.
• Missing the due date for filing. The form is due on or before the 25th of the month after the specified period, and only a Commissioner notification can extend it, not a taxpayer's own reasoning.
• Filing incomplete challans. A challan without the details rule 55 prescribes, such as description, quantity and value, does not satisfy rule 45(2) and leaves the movement unsupported.
• Omitting inter-job-worker movements. Goods received back from a second job worker belong in Table 5B, and leaving them out misrepresents the return trail.
• Leaving Table 5C supplies out of GSTR-1. The manual states that invoice details for a supply made from the job worker's premises are mandatory in the principal's Form GSTR-1, even where Table 5C carries no original challan, that is, where a one-to-one correspondence cannot be established.
• Assuming a nil return is possible. The GST portal shows an error for a form with no records and all fields at zero, so there is no online nil filing for a period without movements.

Consider a hypothetical auto-components maker in Bhiwandi with aggregate turnover of ₹7 crore in FY 2025-26. It sent castings to a machining job worker in June 2026 and received them back in August 2026, so both challans belonged in the April to September 2026 form, due by 25 October 2026. If the form was missed, the principal should file the overdue ITC-04 for the relevant period as soon as possible. The compliance calendar sets out the monthly GST, TDS and payroll dates the same finance team tracks.

How does a principal keep ITC-04 filings on time?

HSAG Consulting lists GST return filing and reconciliations among the indirect tax work on its taxation services page. Its industrial manufacturing page lists input tax credit work and plant-level process audits for manufacturers.

Discuss an overdue ITC-04

To discuss an overdue form, leave your details on the contact page and the team will contact you.