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Before claiming GST input tax credit (ITC), verify that the purchase is for business, the goods or services were received, you hold the prescribed tax document, the credit is not blocked or partly attributable to non-business or exempt use, and the claim is within the applicable deadline. Then reconcile your purchase records with GSTR-2B, resolve discrepancies, account for reversals, and check the figures before filing GSTR-3B.

This checklist describes the general Indian CGST framework. The result for a particular purchase can depend on the taxpayer’s registration, transaction, tax period, state and current notifications. GSTR-2B is a review aid—not proof that every listed credit is legally eligible.

1. Confirm the purchase qualifies for ITC

Section 16 of the CGST Act sets out core conditions for claiming credit. Review each purchase rather than treating every tax amount in the books or portal as claimable.

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  • Business use: The goods or services must be used or intended to be used in the course or furtherance of business. Identify personal or other non-business use.
  • Receipt: Confirm that the goods or services were received. For goods delivered in lots or instalments, entitlement is tied to receipt of the final lot.
  • Prescribed document: Hold the applicable tax invoice, debit note or other prescribed document.
  • Eligible credit: Check section 17 blocked-credit categories and any applicable exception. Where an input is used partly for non-business purposes or exempt supplies, apportion the credit and claim only the eligible attributable portion.

The GST Portal’s GSTR-2B FAQ cautions that an entry shown as available does not override other legal conditions. Eligibility requires your own transaction-level review against the CGST Act and applicable rules.

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2. Validate documents and evidence of receipt

Match the tax document to the transaction and retain evidence that the supply was received. Check the fields needed to identify and substantiate the purchase:

  • Supplier and recipient names and GSTINs
  • Invoice or debit-note number and date
  • Description of goods or services, taxable value and tax charged
  • Place of supply, where relevant
  • Evidence of receipt, such as delivery or service records appropriate to the transaction

Use the GST Portal’s invoice guidance when checking invoice particulars. The exact document requirements can vary by transaction; retain the document prescribed for that supply.

3. Reconcile your purchase records with GSTR-2B

GSTR-2B is an auto-drafted, read-only statement generated from information reported by suppliers and other sources, including input service distributors and import-related data. The recipient does not file or edit it. It is intended to help prepare GSTR-3B, but it does not decide legal eligibility.

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Compare the statement with your purchase register and books using supplier GSTIN, invoice number and date, taxable value and tax, and place of supply where applicable. Investigate each mismatch before finalising the claim.

  • Invoice missing: Check the transaction details and relevant statement period. Supplier reporting affects when a document appears. Ask the supplier to report or correct the document, then check the relevant later GSTR-2B.
  • Amended invoice: Match the amendment to the original document and determine the correct value and tax for the claim.
  • Duplicate entry or claim: Verify that the same document has not been claimed more than once.
  • Credit note: Account for the credit note and any resulting adjustment or reversal.
  • Not-available marker: Read the reason and assess the applicable law. GSTR-2B’s not-available section includes specified cases such as section 16(4) time-barred documents and certain place-of-supply situations, but not every legal reason for denying credit is necessarily generated by the system.

Ordinary GSTR-1 due dates shown in GST Portal guidance are the 11th of the succeeding month for monthly filers and the 13th after quarter-end for quarterly filers. These are supplier filing dates, not the recipient’s ITC claim deadline, and government extensions or changes may apply. See the Portal’s GSTR-1 due-date and GSTR-2B guidance.

4. Check reversals, reverse charge and supplier payments

Prevent duplicate claims and account for adjustments

Check amendments, credit notes and other adjustments against the books and prior claims. Make reversals required by the Act and rules. Do not rely on an unchanged portal entry to establish that a previously claimed amount remains eligible.

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Review reverse-charge supplies separately

For a reverse-charge supply, verify and report the tax liability separately. The ordinary statement presentation does not remove the obligation to pay tax under reverse charge; assess any related ITC under the applicable conditions.

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Track the 180-day payment condition

For covered purchases, track whether you pay the supplier the value of the supply plus tax within 180 days from the invoice date. If you do not, the prescribed reversal or output-liability treatment and interest rules apply. Credit may be re-availed after payment in accordance with the rules. This condition excludes supplies on which tax is payable under reverse charge. See the CBIC CGST Rules and the Act’s eligibility provisions.

5. Monitor the ITC claim deadline

The general section 16(4) wording reflected in CBIC Circular 237/31/2024-GST bars taking credit after 30 November following the relevant financial year, or furnishing the relevant annual return, whichever is earlier. The circular also discusses retrospective relief for specified cases, so older tax periods and exceptional claims need a specific review rather than automatic application of the general rule.

Use the current wording and any applicable amendments or relief for the relevant period; older guidance that gives a September deadline should not be treated as the general current rule. See CBIC Circular 237/31/2024-GST and the CBIC CGST Act compilation.

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6. Review the GSTR-3B figures before filing

Once eligibility and reconciliation checks are complete, compare GSTR-3B’s auto-populated values with your supported calculation. The GST Portal says the auto-populated values are editable; keep records explaining any adjustment.

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  1. Calculate eligible ITC from the reconciled records, including any required apportionment.
  2. Identify reversals and other adjustments required for the period.
  3. Review reverse-charge liability separately.
  4. Report eligible credit and required adjustments in the appropriate GSTR-3B tables, then compare the return figures with the supporting calculation before filing.

Keep an audit trail that brings together the source document, receipt evidence, supplier follow-up, reconciliation result, eligibility decision, payment status and return treatment. This makes it possible to reconstruct why a credit was claimed, adjusted or not claimed.

Monthly close checklist

  • Collect prescribed purchase documents and match them to evidence of receipt.
  • Confirm business use and identify non-business or exempt use.
  • Screen for blocked credits and applicable exceptions; calculate any required apportionment.
  • Reconcile purchase records to GSTR-2B and investigate missing, amended, duplicate and credit-note entries.
  • Review reverse-charge supplies, required reversals and supplier payment status.
  • Check the section 16(4) deadline for the relevant period and any applicable special relief.
  • Compare the supported ITC calculation with GSTR-3B before filing and retain the audit trail.

Official references: GST Portal FAQs, CBIC CGST Act compilation, CBIC CGST Rules, and CBIC Circular 237/31/2024-GST. Official guidance is not a substitute for checking later notifications, amendments, state-specific issues and the facts of a particular claim.

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