GSTR-2B: the auto-drafted statement that decides your input tax credit

What is GSTR-2B?

GSTR-2B is a read-only statement showing the input tax credit available to you for a tax period. It lists invoices, debit and credit notes reported by your suppliers, bills of entry for imports, and credit distributed by an input service distributor, classed as available or not available.

Unlike GSTR-2A, which changes every time a supplier files, GSTR-2B is fixed for each period. That stability is why the law ties credit to it. Section 16(2)(aa) allows credit only where the supplier has reported the invoice and it is communicated to you, which in practice means it appears in GSTR-2B.

How does the Invoice Management System change GSTR-2B?

Since October 2024, supplier records first land in the Invoice Management System (IMS). You can accept, reject or keep each record pending. Accepted records and those with no action go into GSTR-2B; rejected ones are excluded; pending ones are carried forward. If you act after the 14th, you can recompute GSTR-2B before filing GSTR-3B.

From the October 2025 period, IMS allows certain records such as credit notes to be kept pending, and no reversal is needed where you never availed the credit. An Import of Goods section showing bills of entry was also added. Rejecting an invoice in IMS pushes the supplier to correct it through GSTR-1A or a later GSTR-1.

What should you check every month?

A monthly review of GSTR-2B takes far less time than fixing a full year of mismatches when a scrutiny notice arrives. Work through these points before you file GSTR-3B for the period.

• Invoices in your purchase register that are missing from GSTR-2B, so you can follow up with suppliers
• Records shown as ITC not available, for example due to place of supply or time limits
• Reverse charge entries, which carry a liability as well as credit
• Credit notes that require you to reduce credit
• Import of goods credit against your bills of entry
• Blocked credits under section 17(5), which may appear in GSTR-2B but cannot be claimed

Time limits and common errors

Credit for an invoice must be claimed by 30 November following the end of the financial year, or the date of filing the annual return, whichever is earlier. For FY 2025-26 invoices, that means 30 November 2026 at the latest. An invoice that reaches GSTR-2B after that date may be lost.

Common errors include claiming the GSTR-2A figure instead of GSTR-2B, claiming credit before the goods or services are received, ignoring credit notes, and not reversing credit where the supplier is unpaid for 180 days. Over-claiming against GSTR-2B is a top trigger for scrutiny notices under section 61 and demand under section 73 or 74A.

What if a supplier does not file?

If your supplier does not file GSTR-1 or IFF, the invoice will not appear in your GSTR-2B and you cannot claim the credit, even though you have paid the tax to the supplier. The practical remedies are to chase the supplier, hold back the GST portion of payment until the invoice appears, and track supplier filing status before onboarding vendors.

Keep a monthly reconciliation file showing each mismatch and the action taken. It is the first thing an officer asks for when a notice arrives. Refogo's partner professionals can reconcile GSTR-2B with your books as part of return filing.

Step by step

1. 1Review records in IMS

   Accept, reject or keep pending each supplier record before or after the 14th.

2. 2Download GSTR-2B

   Download the Excel or JSON for the period from the Returns Dashboard.

3. 3Reconcile with purchase register

   Match invoice-wise and list missing, excess and mismatched entries.

4. 4Recompute if needed

   If you changed IMS actions after generation, recompute GSTR-2B before filing GSTR-3B.

5. 5Claim eligible credit in GSTR-3B

   Claim only eligible credit that is in GSTR-2B and reverse blocked or ineligible amounts.