What Is GSTR-2B Reconciliation, and How Do You Do It?

• Download GSTR-2B for the tax period from the GST portal and export the purchase register from the system in which it is kept.
• Compare the supplier's GSTIN, the invoice number, the invoice date and the tax amount on every record.
• Sort each record into matched, values mismatched, present only in the books, or present only on the portal.
• Claim matched records, and no more than the amount the recipient is entitled to on a values-mismatched record; ask the supplier to correct or upload the rest, and take any accept, reject or pending action in the optional Invoice Management System (IMS) before filing FORM GSTR-3B.

The supplier's GSTIN is compared first, then the invoice number, the invoice date and the tax amount. Where the GSTIN on a record is wrong, the record appears in another taxpayer's GSTR-2B, and nothing further can be matched until the GSTIN is corrected.

• Matched: the GSTIN, invoice number, date and tax agree in both lists, and the credit is claimed.
• Values mismatched: the record is in both lists but an amount differs; claim no more than the amount the recipient is entitled to, and ask the supplier to amend it.
• Present only in the books: the supplier has not filed the invoice, or filed it against another GSTIN, and there is no claim this month.
• Present only on the portal: the record is in GSTR-2B and not in the purchase register; check whether it belongs to the recipient before accepting it.

Fix each difference before filing

Do the comparison between the 14th, when GSTR-2B is generated, and the GSTR-3B due date, which is the 20th for a monthly filer and the 22nd or 24th for a quarterly filer under QRMP. After filing, the only correction is a reversal or a later reclaim.

In practice the portal does not generate GSTR-2B for the first two months of a quarter under the QRMP scheme, or for any month where the previous period's GSTR-3B is unfiled; file the pending return, then use Compute GSTR-2B. Under the notified rules, by contrast, rule 60(7) provides for the statement "for every month", and rule 60(8)(i) sets its availability date for the first and second month of a quarter.

Claim a matched record in the current month

Where the GSTIN, invoice number, date and tax agree in both lists, the credit is claimable this month. Every condition in Section 16 and the whole of the Section 17(5) list still apply to a matched record, so appearing in GSTR-2B is a necessary condition for the claim and not a sufficient one. Report the credit in Table 4(A)(5) of GSTR-3B by the GSTR-3B due date and take no IMS action, because no action is deemed acceptance; no one other than the recipient has to act.

Ask the supplier to amend a values-mismatched record

Where the record is in both lists but an amount differs, do not claim the difference. Reject the record in IMS, or accept it and report in 4(A)(5) only the amount the recipient is entitled to, since reducing an auto-populated figure is permitted and is not flagged. Then ask the supplier to amend the record in GSTR-1A for the same tax period or in the amendment table of a later GSTR-1; the corrected credit is available to the recipient in the GSTR-2B for the period in which the supplier amends.

Ask the supplier to report a books-only record before the section 16(4) date

Where the invoice is in the purchase register and not in GSTR-2B, there is no claim this month. Once the supplier files or amends GSTR-1, the credit appears in a later GSTR-2B and is claimable then, provided it is claimed by 30 November following the end of the financial year or the date of filing the annual return, whichever is earlier.

Check a portal-only record before accepting it

Where a record is in GSTR-2B and not in the purchase register, establish whether it belongs to the recipient before claiming it, because where a supplier keys in the wrong GSTIN, another taxpayer's invoice appears in the recipient's statement. If the record belongs to the recipient and has not been booked, book it and claim it; if it does not, reject it in IMS and add a remark, and the rejection is visible to the supplier.

A Pune electronics distributor is filing GSTR-3B for the July 2026 tax period. GSTR-2B for July is generated on 14 August 2026, and GSTR-3B is due on 20 August 2026. The distributor's purchase register shows ₹7,86,400 of input tax for the month and its GSTR-2B shows ₹7,42,300 as ITC available, a difference of ₹44,100, none of which is claimable in the July return.

Of the difference, ₹31,400 is on an invoice the supplier filed against the wrong GSTIN, so the record never appeared in the distributor's IMS or its GSTR-2B. The supplier re-reports it with the correct GSTIN in GSTR-1A or in the amendment table of a later GSTR-1. Under Rule 60(7) those details are included in the GSTR-2B for the period in which they fall, which is the August statement at the earliest, and the distributor accepts the record there and claims the ₹31,400 in the August return. The other ₹12,700 is on an invoice the supplier never filed in GSTR-1, and it is not claimable until the supplier files it.

Of ₹7,86,400 of input tax in the books, ₹6,81,200 is credited to the electronic credit ledger this month: ₹44,100 is not in the July GSTR-2B, ₹41,300 is permanently reversed, and ₹19,800 is temporarily reversed and reclaimable later. Nothing is reclaimed this month, so 4(D)(1) is nil. The ₹9,150 is not part of the ₹7,42,300: GSTR-2B shows it separately as credit not available, so it is never included in 4(A) and is disclosed at 4(D)(2).

FORM GSTR-2B shows the input tax credit available to the recipient for a tax period, and the electronic credit ledger shows a different figure, the running balance credited from every GSTR-3B filed; the electronic credit ledger and the electronic cash ledger are different accounts, and only the credit ledger holds input tax credit. Reverse-charge credit that the recipient self-assesses, and import IGST on a bill of entry, are not governed by rule 36(4) of the CGST Rules; the recipient enters the reverse-charge credit, and import IGST is auto-populated in 4(A)(1) from GSTR-2B. The accept, reject and pending actions that determine what GSTR-2B contains are taken in IMS, before GSTR-2B is generated on the 14th or afterwards until GSTR-3B is filed, when GSTR-2B is regenerated.

The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) describes IMS as "an optional facility introduced from October 2024 on GST Portal". Under the notified rules, GSTR-2B is still generated from what suppliers furnished in GSTR-1, GSTR-1A, the IFF, GSTR-5 and GSTR-6, plus import IGST on a bill of entry. GSTN's advisories on portal behaviour state the effect of each accept, reject or pending action on the recipient's GSTR-2B; neither the Act nor the Rules state whether that practice operates under rule 60(7) or independently of it.

• Services › Returns › Invoice Management System (IMS) shows what suppliers filed, and the action taken on each record.
• Services › Returns › Returns Dashboard › GSTR-2B shows what the recipient may claim this month.
• Services › Ledgers › Electronic Credit Ledger shows what has already been credited.

Reconcile in Tally, Zoho or a spreadsheet

No particular software is required. Tally, Zoho and comparable tools automate the match and the sorting into categories and can call the GST portal's APIs to download GSTR-2B directly, and a spreadsheet does the same work with a lookup on the supplier's GSTIN, the invoice number, the invoice date and the tax amount. With any tool, every IMS action is taken on the GST portal rather than in the accounting package.

The claimable amount depends on GSTR-2B and not on GSTR-2A, because Rule 36(4) of the CGST Rules names GSTR-2B. Under rule 36(4), the supplier must have furnished the invoice or debit note in FORM GSTR-1, as amended in GSTR-1A if any, or through the Invoice Furnishing Facility (IFF), and the credit must have been communicated to the recipient in FORM GSTR-2B under sub-rule (7) of rule 60. GSTR-2A is a dynamic statement under rule 60(1) to (6) that keeps changing as suppliers file, and it is the statement used to prove that a supplier eventually filed. GSTR-2B, the statement of input tax credit (ITC), is static for the period once generated: the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs describes it in Circular No. 170/02/2022-GST as "the facility of static month-wise auto-drafted statement in FORM GSTR-2B". Section 16(2)(aa) of the CGST Act is the parent provision for rule 36(4).

Table 5 of GSTR-2B, "ITC Reversal Summary (Rule 37A)", summarises credit to be reversed where a supplier has not filed his GSTR-3B by the 30 September following the year of availment. Instruction 8 to the FORM states that table "shall be made available only in FORM GSTR 2B of the September of the next financial year (made available in October)", so it appears once a year, in the October statement. The credit in it is reversed in GSTR-3B and reported at Table 4(B)(2).

Under Important Advisory 2(c) of the FORM, GSTR-2B flags credit as unavailable only where the document is time-barred under section 16(4), or where the supply is an intra-State supply with the supplier and the place of supply in one State and the recipient in another. The FORM itself states that "there may be other scenarios for which input tax credit may not be available ... Taxpayers should self-assess and reverse such credit in their FORM GSTR-3B."

From 1 October 2025, section 127 of the Finance Act, 2025 changed section 38 of the CGST Act, which governs the statement of inward supplies and input tax credit communicated to a recipient. Sub-section (1) now says "a statement" where it said "an auto-generated statement", and a new clause (c) adds "such other details as may be prescribed". Notification No. 16/2025–Central Tax of 17 September 2025 brought the change into force. GSTR-2B is generated under rule 60(7) of the CGST Rules, which describes it as "an auto-generated statement".

Section 126 of the same Act substituted the proviso to section 34(2). A supplier's output tax cannot be reduced by a credit note unless the recipient has reversed the input tax credit attributable to it, where the recipient had availed that credit.

The actions taken in the Invoice Management System have determined what is included in GSTR-2B since the October 2024 tax period, not since October 2025: GSTN's advisories describe IMS as "introduced on the GST portal from the October 2024 tax period". The section 38 amendment commenced on 1 October 2025, and four portal changes took effect from the October 2025 tax period:

• Pending for specified records: credit notes, upward amendments of credit notes and named downward amendments may be held for one tax period, which is one month for monthly filers and one quarter for quarterly filers.
• Declared reversal amount: on accepting a credit note the recipient may enter the ITC actually availed and reverse only that much.
• Remarks: saved against a reject or pending action, visible in GSTR-2B and to the supplier.
• Import of goods: a bill of entry, including one from a special economic zone, appears in IMS for action.

GSTN issued an advisory on 8 October 2025 because, in its own words, "some posts are circulating incorrect information regarding changes in GST return filing from October 1, 2025". The advisory states: "Input Tax Credit (ITC) will continue to auto-populate from GSTR-2B to GSTR-3B without any manual intervention." It also states: "GSTR-2B will continue to be generated automatically on the 14th of every month, without any manual intervention by taxpayers or based on the actions taken by the taxpayers." The same advisory records that actions may be taken in IMS after GSTR-2B has been generated, until GSTR-3B is filed, and that GSTR-2B may be regenerated accordingly. From the July 2025 tax period, the auto-populated liability in Table 3 of GSTR-3B became non-editable and is amendable only through GSTR-1A; the input tax credit in Table 4 remains editable.

The effect of each IMS action on GSTR-2B and on the supplier is stated by GSTN in its advisories rather than in the Act or the Rules. Accepting a record includes the credit in the recipient's GSTR-2B for the period. Rejecting it excludes the credit: GSTN's advisory of 12 November 2024 states "the ITC for the rejected record will not be available to the recipient in the GSTR 2B", and the rejection is visible on the supplier's outward-supplies view. Keeping a record pending carries it forward without claiming it and does not extend the time limit for claiming under Section 16(4). For credit notes and the related documents brought into the pending option from the October 2025 tax period, a record may be held for one tax period only. Taking no action has the same effect as accepting: GSTN's advisory of 30 October 2025 states that a record on which no action is taken "will be treated as deemed accepted", and it is included in GSTR-2B on the 14th.

Where an action was taken in error and GSTR-3B has not yet been filed, change the action in IMS and recompute GSTR-2B. The credit is restored in the same period and no one other than the recipient is involved. Where GSTR-3B has already been filed, ask the supplier to re-report the identical record in GSTR-1A for the same period, or in the amendment table of a later GSTR-1 or the Invoice Furnishing Facility, then accept it and recompute GSTR-2B in the period in which it appears. The supplier's liability does not increase, because the amendment table takes delta values only and a same-value re-report produces a nil differential.

Block 4(A) reports the credit available, in five named rows. Block 4(B) reports reversals, split between permanent reversals in 4(B)(1) and reclaimable ones in 4(B)(2). Block 4(C) is the arithmetic result, 4(A) less the total of 4(B)(1) and 4(B)(2), and it is the figure credited to the electronic credit ledger; the set-off order then governs how much of it discharges output tax. Block 4(D) is disclosure only: 4(D)(1) shows separately the reclaimed credit already included in 4(A)(5), and 4(D)(2) reports credit that was never included in 4(A).

• 4(A)(1) Import of Goods: IGST paid on a Bill of entry, auto-populated from GSTR-2B.
• 4(A)(2) Import of Services: IGST self-paid under reverse charge; entered by the recipient, never auto-populated.
• 4(A)(3) Inward Supplies liable to Reverse Charge: credit on domestic reverse-charge supplies already declared as liability in Table 3.1(d). It auto-populates where the supplier reported the supply, and the recipient adds it where the supply came from an unregistered person under section 9(4).
• 4(A)(4) Inward Supplies from ISD: credit distributed to the recipient by its Input Service Distributor registration.
• 4(A)(5) All other ITC: every ordinary purchase from a registered supplier, plus any credit reclaimed this period.
• 4(B)(1) As per rules 38, 42 and 43 and section 17(5): permanent reversals that can never be reclaimed, being the common-credit apportionment under Rules 42 and 43, rule 38's banking option, and all blocked credit.
• 4(B)(2) Others: temporary reversals, being rule 37's non-payment within 180 days and sections 16(2)(b) and 16(2)(c), reclaimable later in 4(A)(5). This is also the row for reversing credit availed in an earlier period through an inadvertent mistake.
• 4(C) Net ITC Available (A) − (B): the computed figure credited to the electronic credit ledger.
• 4(D)(1) ITC reclaimed which was reversed under Table 4(B)(2) in an earlier tax period: disclosure of the credit reclaimed in 4(A)(5) this period.
• 4(D)(2) Ineligible ITC under section 16(4) and ITC restricted due to PoS provisions: time-barred credit, and credit where the place of supply is in another State or Union territory. Paragraph 4.3 A of Circular No. 170/02/2022-GST excludes this credit from what auto-populates into 4(A), and paragraph 4.3 F states that it "may be reported by the registered person" in 4(D)(2). The figures are in Table 4 of GSTR-2B and the recipient keys them in.

Section 17(5) credit is reported in Table 4(B), not Table 4(D), as paragraph 4.4 of the circular states in terms, and paragraph 4.3 B specifies for it the 4(B)(1) sub-row, which also covers rules 38, 42 and 43.

The revised Table 4 rows began auto-populating from the January 2023 tax period. Notification No. 14/2022–Central Tax of 5 July 2022 had substituted four entries in Table 4 and not the format itself: the entry against 4(B)(1), the heading of block 4(D), which became "Other Details", and the entries against 4(D)(1) and 4(D)(2). The four blocks, the ten rows and the 4(C) formula are the FORM as originally notified in 2017. The portal applied the new labels from the August 2022 return period, and auto-population of ITC from GSTR-2B into GSTR-3B had begun in December 2020.

Table 4 remains editable in both directions, but variance is flagged. Where more than the auto-populated figure is entered in 4(A)(1), (3), (4) or (5), the field and the dashboard tile turn red before the return can be confirmed with CONFIRM.

FORM GST DRC-01C is the system intimation issued to a registered person when the input tax credit availed in GSTR-3B exceeds the credit available in GSTR-2B. Rule 88D of the CGST Rules requires the registered person, within seven days, to pay the excess with interest under section 50 through FORM GST DRC-03 and report it in Part B of DRC-01C, or to explain the difference in Part B. Rule 59(6)(e) also bars a person to whom a rule 88D intimation has been issued from furnishing GSTR-1 or using the Invoice Furnishing Facility for a subsequent tax period. The bar ends when he pays the amount or furnishes a reply. If the intimation is ignored, or the proper officer does not accept the explanation, the amount is liable to be demanded under section 73, 74 or 74A. Interest, penalty and the consequences of an unaccepted explanation are governed by the rules on wrongly availed credit. A separate form, DRC-01B, applies to the corresponding mismatch in output tax liability. The trigger in rules 88C and 88D is "such amount and such percentage as may be recommended by the Council", so the threshold is a Council recommendation rather than a figure in the rule text.

Does GSTR-9 change the input tax credit you claimed?

No. GSTR-9 reconciles credit already claimed and does not create or change it. Table 6 shows credit availed as reported in GSTR-3B, Table 7 shows reversals, and Table 8 is the reconciliation block. For FY 2024-25, Table 8A contains the documents pertaining to that year appearing in GSTR-2B, as GSTN states in its Consolidated FAQ of 17 December 2025, which is issued for guidance rather than as a statement of law. Table 8A includes invoices for FY 2024-25 that appear in the GSTR-2B of the following year between April 2025 and October 2025, and excludes invoices for FY 2023-24 that appeared between April 2024 and October 2024. A difference in Table 8 is a disclosure rather than a fresh claim, and credit not taken by the section 16(4) date cannot be recovered through the annual return.

Records accepted or deemed accepted appear in GSTR-2B, and Table 8A is based on GSTR-2B, so an IMS action affects the annual return through the monthly statement and not otherwise. GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C for FY 2024-25 were enabled on the portal on 12 October 2025.

Is TDS in GSTR-7 input tax credit?

No. Tax deducted under Section 51 and reported by the deductor in GSTR-7 is accepted by the deductee under "TDS/TCS Credit Received" and credited to the electronic cash ledger, where it is used to pay tax. It is not credit under Chapter V and it never appears in Table 4. Invoice-wise reporting in GSTR-7 became mandatory from 1 April 2025. Notification No. 09/2025–Central Tax of 11 February 2025 appointed that date for rule 37 of the CGST (Amendment) Rules, 2024, which substituted Tables 3 and 4 of FORM GSTR-7 with invoice-wise tables.

Does an e-invoice affect your input tax credit?

An e-invoice affects credit through GSTR-2B. E-invoicing applies to supplies made to a registered person, and to exports, where aggregate turnover in any financial year from 2017-18 onwards exceeds ₹5 crore. Notification No. 10/2023–Central Tax of 10 May 2023 substituted that figure for ₹10 crore with effect from 1 August 2023. Where it applies and no invoice reference number is generated, rule 48(5) provides that the document "shall not be treated as an invoice", so it is never included in GSTR-1 and never appears in the recipient's GSTR-2B. The 30-day reporting limit on the Invoice Registration Portal (IRP), which GSTN's advisory of 5 November 2024 set from 1 April 2025, governs timing rather than applicability. It applies to a taxpayer with aggregate annual turnover of ₹10 crore and above, and covers invoices, credit notes and debit notes. Where a document is not reported in time, the practical remedy is a fresh compliant document from the supplier, and the claim on it is then subject to the Section 16(4) date like any other.

• 21 April 2026: the IMS Offline Tool, an Excel-based utility for individual and bulk action.
• 29 December 2025: hard validations announced for the reclaim and reverse-charge statements, stated at the time as coming shortly.
• 30 October 2025: import of goods, including from a special economic zone, brought into IMS.
• 17 October 2025: the pending option for credit notes, and the declared reversal amount.
• 8 October 2025: GSTN's advisory that input tax credit continues to auto-populate from GSTR-2B into GSTR-3B.
• 1 October 2025: section 38 as amended commences, by Notification No. 16/2025–Central Tax.
• July 2025 tax period: the auto-populated liability in GSTR-3B becomes non-editable.
• October 2024 tax period: actions in the Invoice Management System begin determining what is included in GSTR-2B.
• January 2023 tax period: the revised Table 4 rows begin auto-populating from GSTR-2B.
• 5 and 6 July 2022: Notification No. 14/2022–Central Tax substitutes four entries in Table 4, including the heading of block 4(D), and Circular No. 170/02/2022-GST specifies what goes in each row.

A reported GST Council Law Committee recommendation would allow input tax credit on vehicles bought in a company's name for employee use and on group insurance. No official record of that recommendation has been published, the GST Council has not adopted it, and no notification, circular or Act gives it legal effect. Until Section 17(5) is amended and the amendment is brought into force, the credit remains blocked.