Who this applies to
Any business registered for VAT with the Inland Revenue Department owes a monthly return, regardless of entity type — Private Limited, Public Limited, Sole Proprietorship, or Partnership. If you haven't registered yet, this deadline doesn't apply to you until you do; see our VAT registration guide for thresholds and the registration process itself.
What "nil return" means, and why it still counts
A common misconception is that a month with no sales means nothing needs to be filed. It doesn't work that way — the obligation is to file a return every month you're registered, and a return showing zero taxable activity (a nil return) is still a required filing with its own deadline. Skipping it because "there was nothing to report" is treated the same as skipping any other month's return.
What's actually due: filing and payment together
The VAT return itself (reconciling output VAT collected against input VAT paid) and any resulting payment share the same monthly deadline. Filing the return doesn't substitute for paying what's due, and vice versa — they're two parts of the same obligation, both due by the same date.
What happens if you're late
Late filing and late payment penalties and interest apply under the VAT Act. We're intentionally not quoting a specific rupee figure or percentage here, since penalty rates can change and we'd rather send you to a current, authoritative number than repeat one that might be stale — confirm the current rate with IRD or an accountant before budgeting around it.
Keep this on a real calendar, not just this page
This page explains the rule; our Compliance Calendar converts it into an actual next-due date in both Bikram Sambat and Gregorian, alongside every other tax, TDS, audit and OCR deadline that might apply to your business — and lets you build a personalized list so you're not tracking this one in isolation.