New Delhi, Nov 21 (PTI) As many as 43.67 lakh businesses have filed the initial GSTR-3B returns for the month of October -- the highest monthly return filing within due date, GST Network said today.

The last date of GSTR-3B filing, which is the initial sales return, for October was yesterday.

Around 56 per cent of the registered taxpayers filed their GSTR-3B returns for October within due date.

"The number of taxpayers filing their GSTR-3B returns is showing marked improvement month after month with about 43.67 lakh of them filing their GSTR-3B returns for October till November 20, 2017, the highest so far," GSTN said in a statement.

As many as 39.33 lakh returns were filed within due date for September and 28.46 lakh for August and 33.98 lakh for July.

"There is steady rise in the number of taxpayers filing their GSTR-3B returns every month which is encouraging to see.

The trend of taxpayers filing their returns on the last day continues though. Taxpayers are urged to file their returns early to avoid last minute hassles," GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar said.

As many as 14.76 lakh taxpayers filed their returns on the GST Network portal yesterday.

Punjab took the lead once again over all other states in filing the highest number of GSTR-3B returns for October.

About 73.09 per cent of the taxpayers in Punjab filed their GSTR-3B returns for October so far, GSTN said.

GSTR-3B filing shows rising compliance with highest monthly timely submissions; authorities urge earlier return filing. Filing of GSTR-3B returns for October registered a marked increase in on-time compliance, with the GST Network reporting the highest monthly number of initial sales returns filed within the due date since implementation. The GST Network encouraged earlier submission to avoid last minute difficulties and noted state-level variation in timely filings, providing an operational snapshot for monitoring taxpayer behaviour and improving outreach under the GST return framework.