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Invoice Management System (IMS) is the GST Portal workflow in which a recipient reviews supplier records, then accepts, rejects or leaves them pending before relying on the related input tax credit (ITC). The correct action depends on the record, tax period, supplier corrections and your filing frequency. IMS launched on 1 October 2024, and recipient actions became available from 14 October 2024. Treat every deadline below as period-specific: portal notifications and tax-period settings can change.
What is Invoice Management System (IMS)?
The GST Portal defines IMS as a facility where invoices and other records saved or filed by a supplier in GSTR-1, GSTR-1A or the Invoice Furnishing Facility (IFF) can be accepted, rejected or kept pending by the recipient to help correctly avail ITC. It is a recipient-side review queue, not a replacement for GSTR-3B or a separate return.
IMS gives you a place to compare a supplier’s reported document with your purchase register before the document contributes to the relevant GSTR-2B period. A decision should be based on whether the invoice or note is genuine, belongs to the stated period, has the correct GSTIN and values, and is eligible for your business to claim. Keep evidence for the decision: purchase order, tax invoice, goods-receipt or service record, payment trail and correspondence about corrections.
When do supplier records appear in IMS?
A supplier record becomes visible in IMS as soon as the supplier saves it in the corresponding GSTR-1, GSTR-1A or IFF. “Saved” matters: a supplier does not necessarily have to wait for the final return filing for the record to enter the recipient’s review queue.
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Not every supplier document is routed through IMS. Records that are ineligible for ITC because of place-of-supply rules or because the time limit in section 16(4) of the CGST Act applies are excluded from IMS. They go directly to the ITC Not Available section of GSTR-2B. Their absence from the IMS queue is therefore not evidence that the supplier failed to report them.
Accept, reject or keep a record pending?
These actions are not interchangeable status labels. Choose the one that matches what you know at the time and the remaining window for action.
| Action | Use it when | What to check first |
|---|---|---|
| Accept | The record is yours, the details agree with your books and the ITC is otherwise eligible. | Supplier GSTIN, invoice number and date, taxable value, tax amounts, place of supply, duplicate status and whether the goods or services were received. |
| Reject | The record is not yours, is a duplicate, is materially wrong, or the supply did not occur. | Confirm that the problem is real and retain the reason and supporting communication. Ask the supplier to correct an error rather than rejecting a valid supply merely because a corrected document is expected. |
| Keep pending | You need a supplier correction, receipt confirmation or internal review before deciding. | Record the tax period, the date by which action must be taken and the person responsible for follow-up. Pending is temporary; it is not an indefinite hold. |
If a supplier has reported a valid purchase with a typographical error and has promised an amendment, pending can preserve time for verification. If the record is plainly unrelated to you, rejecting it promptly avoids leaving an incorrect item in the queue. If you have already verified the transaction, accepting it lets the normal GSTR-2B and GSTR-3B process proceed.
IMS pending deadlines: why there is no single date
The allowed pending period is tied to the applicable GSTR-2B period and to whether you file monthly or under the QRMP scheme. The October 2025 GST Portal FAQ illustrates the rule with separate examples rather than one universal calendar date.
Monthly filers
In the FAQ’s monthly example, a record for a November tax period can remain pending through the GSTR-3B due date for that period. That example explains the relationship between the IMS window and the period’s return; it is not a date that should be copied to every November or every taxpayer. Check the period shown in your portal and the current specified end of the pending window.
QRMP filers
For a QRMP recipient, the FAQ’s example allows pending action through one following quarter, with the illustration reaching the due date for the January–March 2026 quarter. The length of the window therefore differs from the monthly example. Use the quarter and filing frequency attached to the record, not a deadline remembered from another taxpayer.
What happens when the window expires?
After the applicable specified period, the portal disables the pending action. If you have taken no action, the record is treated as deemed accepted. Doing nothing does not preserve the item indefinitely and does not prevent it from being handled as accepted once the window closes. Build a review calendar that flags pending records before the portal disables the option.
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Many IMS errors arise from confusing a recipient’s pending window with a supplier’s return deadline or an amendment facility. They are related, but they are not the same clock.
| Timeline | What it controls | Usual rule or qualification |
|---|---|---|
| IMS pending window | How long a recipient can leave a record pending. | Depends on the GSTR-2B period and monthly or QRMP filing frequency. After the specified period, pending is disabled and an untouched record is deemed accepted. |
| GSTR-1 filing | When the supplier reports outward supplies or corrections in its return. | Usually the 11th of the succeeding month for monthly filers and the 13th of the month after the quarter for quarterly filers, subject to government extensions. |
| GSTR-1A | When the supplier can add or amend records for the same tax period. | Available after GSTR-1 is filed or its due date has passed, whichever is later; it can be filed once before that period’s GSTR-3B. |
The GST Portal also lists 30 November of the following financial year as the cut-off for correcting an error or omission in prior-financial-year invoice details, subject to the applicable rules and notifications. This is a supplier-return correction cut-off, not an IMS pending deadline.
What happens after you accept or reject a record?
Accepted and rejected records associated with a GSTR-2B period remain visible in IMS until you file GSTR-3B for that period. After that GSTR-3B filing, those accepted and rejected records are removed from IMS. Pending records and records associated with a future tax period remain available.
Before filing GSTR-3B, reconcile the final accepted set with your purchase register and the GSTR-2B data for the period. Save an export or internal report of decisions, especially where a rejection follows a supplier dispute. Once the period’s GSTR-3B has been filed and the records leave IMS, your audit trail must come from your accounting system and retained documents.
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How GSTR-1A amendments affect recipient ITC
GSTR-1A is an optional, same-period amendment facility for the supplier. It becomes available after the supplier files GSTR-1 or after the GSTR-1 due date, whichever is later. The supplier may use it once and must do so before filing GSTR-3B for that period.
Suppose a supplier omitted an invoice from GSTR-1, or needs to correct a value for the same tax period. The supplier can use GSTR-1A within that window. The recipient’s resulting ITC is reflected in the next tax period’s GSTR-2B, not the GSTR-2B for the same period as the original GSTR-1. Plan the reconciliation accordingly: an amendment made before the supplier’s GSTR-3B can still arrive one period later in your auto-drafted statement.
- Ask the supplier to identify whether the correction belongs to the same tax period and whether GSTR-1A is still available.
- Confirm that the supplier has filed GSTR-1 (or that its due date has passed) and has not already used the one-time GSTR-1A facility.
- Keep the original and amended details together in your purchase records.
- Review the next period’s GSTR-2B for the amended or newly added record and then decide the IMS action that the portal presents.
Credit notes and the ITC amount to reverse
The October 2025 IMS changes address a problem with certain accepted credit-note records. Under the earlier workflow described in the official FAQ, accepting a credit note could reverse the full corresponding ITC amount in GSTR-2B even when the recipient had not availed all of the original ITC or had already reversed part of it.
The updated workflow gives the recipient an option to enter the ITC amount to reverse for the applicable record. Use that field only after checking the record type, the original invoice, ITC actually availed and any prior reversal. The option is a portal-workflow change; it is not a blanket conclusion that every credit note should be treated the same way for tax purposes. Follow the current record-specific instructions and retain the calculation supporting the amount entered.
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QRMP taxpayers can optionally use IFF for the first two months of a quarter. The GST Portal lists the ordinary IFF due date as the 13th of the succeeding month. IFF records flow to the recipient’s GSTR-2A and, when filed, to GSTR-2B.
IFF timing belongs to the supplier-reporting side. It does not replace or extend the recipient’s IMS pending window. A QRMP recipient should therefore track both: when the supplier is expected to furnish the record through IFF and when the recipient must act on the resulting IMS item.
A practical IMS review procedure
- Identify the period and source. Note whether the item came from GSTR-1, GSTR-1A or IFF, and which GSTR-2B period the portal assigns to it.
- Match the supplier and document. Compare GSTIN, invoice or note number, date, taxable value, tax components, place of supply and line items with your books.
- Check eligibility outside IMS. Confirm receipt, business use, payment and other applicable ITC conditions. A portal match alone does not establish legal entitlement.
- Classify the discrepancy. Mark the item as correct, supplier correction required, duplicate, not received, not yours or otherwise ineligible. Records excluded under place-of-supply rules or section 16(4) may already be in GSTR-2B’s ITC Not Available section instead of IMS.
- Choose the action. Accept a verified record, reject a demonstrably incorrect or unrelated one, and keep a genuinely unresolved item pending.
- Set a follow-up date. Use the period-specific pending deadline shown by the portal, adjusted for monthly or QRMP filing. Do not rely on a generic calendar reminder.
- Reconcile before GSTR-3B. Compare accepted records and the resulting GSTR-2B with the purchase register, then calculate the ITC reported in GSTR-3B under your tax professional’s advice.
- Archive evidence. Save decision reports, supplier messages, amended documents and calculations for credit-note reversals.
Common problems and how to resolve them
A valid invoice is missing from IMS
Ask the supplier whether the record was saved in GSTR-1, GSTR-1A or IFF and whether it was filed for the correct GSTIN and tax period. Check GSTR-2B’s ITC Not Available section if place-of-supply restrictions or section 16(4) could apply. If the supplier has not yet saved the record, IMS cannot display it.
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The supplier says a correction is coming, but pending is about to close
Record the promised correction and the exact portal deadline. Pending will not remain open until the supplier acts. If the period expires first, the untouched item is deemed accepted; obtain professional advice on the appropriate accounting and ITC treatment rather than assuming that deemed acceptance proves eligibility.
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The amended invoice is not in the same-period GSTR-2B
Check whether it was added or amended through GSTR-1A. Such records are reflected in the next tax period’s GSTR-2B. Verify the supplier’s GSTR-1A filing date and wait for the correct subsequent period before treating the absence as a reporting failure.
A credit note appears to reverse too much ITC
Reconcile the original invoice, ITC actually availed and previous reversals. Where the record supports it, use the IMS option to specify the amount to reverse, and retain the computation. Do not enter an amount simply to make the portal total match without checking the underlying transaction.
Which preparation channel should you use?
The GST Portal identifies three broad ways to prepare returns and related data: direct online entry, the Returns Offline Tool and third-party applications connected through GST Suvidha Providers (GSPs). The choice is operational rather than a change to the tax rules.
- Online entry: suitable for smaller volumes and teams that work directly in the portal.
- Returns Offline Tool: useful when a larger batch must be prepared locally and uploaded, with a separate reconciliation process.
- ASP application through a GSP: useful when invoice volume, accounting integration, approval controls or multi-user reconciliation justify software support. Verify current functionality, security terms and compatibility before adopting one.
Whichever channel you use, the legal and timing questions remain the same: identify the tax period, monitor the applicable IMS window, separate supplier deadlines from recipient deadlines, and verify ITC eligibility independently.
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- Have you identified whether the record belongs to a monthly or QRMP GSTR-2B period?
- Have you checked the portal’s current pending-action end date for that period?
- Is the record genuinely yours, non-duplicate and supported by receipt evidence?
- Could place-of-supply rules or section 16(4) explain why it is in ITC Not Available rather than IMS?
- Is a supplier correction expected through GSTR-1A, and will you look for it in the next period’s GSTR-2B?
- Have you separated the supplier’s GSTR-1 or IFF due date from your IMS deadline?
- For a credit note, have you calculated the ITC amount actually to be reversed rather than assuming the full original ITC?
- Have you saved the decision and supporting documents before filing GSTR-3B?
Because GST Portal labels, tax-period windows and government-notified due dates can change, open the current IMS and return instructions for the period you are filing before taking action. The portal workflow helps organize evidence and decisions; it does not by itself determine your statutory ITC entitlement.
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