GSTR-2B is a new static month-wise auto-drafted statement for regular taxpayers (whether or not opted into the QRMP scheme) introduced on the GST portal. The statement was launched from the August 2020 tax period onwards.
GSTR-2B provides eligible and ineligible Input Tax Credit (ITC) for each month, similar to GSTR-2A but remains constant or unchanged for a period. In other words, whenever a GSTR-2B for a month is accessed on the GST portal, the data in it remains the same without being changed for subsequent changes by their suppliers in later months.
GSTR-2B is available to all normal, SEZ and casual taxpayers. Every recipient can generate it on the basis of the GSTR-1, GSTR-5 and GSTR-6 furnished by their suppliers.
The statement will clearly show document-wise details of ITC eligibility. ITC information will be covered from the filing date of GSTR-1 for the preceding month (M-1) up to the filing date of GSTR-1 for the current month (M).
For instance, GSTR-2B generated for July 2023 will contain documents filed by their suppliers from 12 a.m. on 14th July 2023 up to 11:59 p.m. on 13th August 2023. The statement for July 2023 will be generated on 14th August 2023.
The data in GSTR-2B is reported in a manner that allows taxpayers to conveniently reconcile ITC with their own books of accounts and records. It will help them in easier identification of documents to ensure the following:
GSTR-2B has been made available from August 2020 onwards. Until January 2021, it could be generated by recipient taxpayers once a month on the 12th of the month next to the tax period.
For instance, GSTR 2B for August 2023 can be accessed on 12th September 2023.
From January 2021 onwards, taxpayers can generate the GSTR-2B on or after the 14th of every month for a tax period. For instance, GSTR 2B for October 2023 can be accessed on 14th November 2023.
The timelines for the generation of GSTR-2B can be checked out on the government portal under the ‘View Advisory’ tab.
The following are the steps to access GSTR 2B, available from 12th August 2020:
Step 1: Log in to the GST portal. A taxpayer must use his/her credentials to log in.
Step 2: Navigate to the ‘Returns Dashboard’.
Step 3: Select the relevant tax period. Select the month and financial year.
Step 4: On the ‘GSTR-2B’ tile, you may either click on ‘View’ or ‘Download’, as per the need.
(a) Download:
If the total number of documents in all tables of GSTR-2B exceeds 1,000, you can either use the advanced search option or download the document information in excel/JSON format from the GSTR-2B download page. Click the download button to go to the GSTR-2B download page.
(b) View:
If the number of line items is less than 1,000, then you may use the ‘View’ option.
Step 5: Take suitable action on the GSTR-2B based on the option chosen in Step 4.
(a) Intend to download:
If you plan to download, click on the button known as “Generate JSON File To Download” to check out the statement on Offline Matching Tool. Alternatively, click on the “Generate Excel file to download” button to obtain the data in the excel file on your system.
(b) Intend to view:
GSTR-2B screen appears and has two tabs called Summary And All Tables.
The Summary tab is further classified into two parts:
ITC summary value of credits available as on its generation date and is divided into credit that can be availed and credit that must be reversed (Table 3)
ITC summary value of credits not available and is classified into ITC unavailable and ITC reversal (Table 4)
You can fetch the documents by clicking on the hyperlinked text of B2B – Invoices, B2B – Debit notes, B2B – Invoices (Amendment) and B2B – Debit notes (Amendment).
The All Tables tab will have the ITC information that can be sorted as per the tables of the GSTR-2B form such as B2B, B2BA, B2B CDNR, B2B CDNRA, ISD, ISDA, IMPG and IMPGSEZ.
Further, ITC appears document-wise (document details) with filters to sort data as per your need. Further, you can filter data supplier-wise as well.
Note: For Import of goods from overseas on the bill of entry – IMPG table, only document details are available and no supplier wise details are available.
The input tax credit on purchases from any regular taxpayers and non-resident taxable persons will be available in GSTR-2B. Further, the input tax credit distributed by the input service distributor shall also be available.
The contents of GSTR-2B can be summarised as follows:
The form GSTR-2B is classified into two categories:
Note: Amendment tables in GSTR-2B give only the differential tax amount (Amended – Original), also referred to as the delta value. But the document details will display revised details with reference to the original document.
The input tax credit will be marked as ‘not available’ in the following scenarios:
The notable features of GSTR-2B are as follows:
Here’s a glimpse of a downloaded GSTR 2B:
To get the detailed template of GSTR-2B, click on ‘Download Now’.
GSTR-2A and GSTR 2B can be compared as follows:
Parameters for Comparison | GSTR-2A | GSTR-2B |
Type of statement | A progressive auto-drafted statement that provides input tax credit (ITC) details to every recipient of supplies, based on the suppliers’ data. | A constant auto-drafted statement that provides input tax credit (ITC) details to every recipient of supplies, based on the suppliers’ data. |
Nature of the statement | Dynamic, as it changes from day to day, as and when a supplier uploads the documents. | Static, as the GSTR-2B for one month, cannot change based on future actions of the supplier. |
Frequency of availability | Monthly | Monthly |
Source of information | GSTR-1 or IFF*, GSTR-5, GSTR-6, GSTR-7, GSTR-8, ICES | GSTR-1 or IFF*, GSTR-5, GSTR-6, ICES |
GSTN advisory on ITC claims | Does not contain information/advisory on the action a taxpayer is supposed to take | Contains an advisory against each section on whether the ITC is eligible, ineligible or reversible, for the taxpayer to take action accordingly in his GSTR-3B |
When will ITC entries get reflected from various sources? | GSTR-1: Saved/filed/submitted GSTR-6: Submitted GSTR-7 and GSTR-8: Filed | GSTR-1, GSTR-5, or GSTR-6: Filed |
Cut-off date for entries, to view the statement for a tax period | Not applicable, as it’s a dynamic statement | 11th/13th of the succeeding month (depending on the type of return) The statement will be generated on the 14th of the succeeding month |
Maximum ITC entries viewable on GST portal without excel download | 500 rows | 1,000 rows |
**An Invoice Furnishing Facility (IFF) has been introduced for quarterly GSTR-1 filers to upload their supply invoices so that the recipient of supplies can continuously avail input tax credit.
It is recommended that taxpayers reconcile the data provided in GSTR-2B with their own records and books of accounts. Taxpayers must make certain that
Matching GSTR-2B with purchase books is more important than matching with the GSTR-3B. It is because, from late 2020 onwards, GSTR-3B is being auto-populated with the values from GSTR-1 and GSTR-2B forms for the corresponding tax period. Hence, there are lesser chances for any mismatches.
Once the values are taken from GSTR-2B, the values from GSTR-2A need not be taken. The GST portal provides an option for taxpayers to match their purchase register with the GSTR-2B form known as the Offline Matching Tool. It is critical that you add data and import it into the tool in the same format as given on the GST portal. Otherwise, the tool will produce an error, and you will be unable to continue matching GSTR-2B records with the purchase register.
Matching of entries between the two data must be based on the following parameters:
Further, the matching may result in documents missing in either of the data. If there are invoices or debit notes missing in GSTR-2B when compared to the purchase register, the taxpayer must inform his suppliers about the same and get the document uploaded in the next GSTR-1 return they are filing. The reconciliation between GSTR-2B and the purchase register must be carried out more frequently and suitably from the 14th of the month subsequent to the tax period.
A few of the reasons for mismatches between GSTR-2B and purchase books can be as follows:
Clear GST, a cloud-based software, provides an advanced reconciliation tool to quickly compare GSTR 2B with the purchase data, including the bill of entry.
Clear GST (formerly, ClearTax GST) offerings for reconciliation of purchase data with GSTR-2B and much more are as follows:
GSTR-2B is an auto-drafted statement on the GST portal for taxpayers to reconcile Input Tax Credit (ITC) easily. Available from August 2020, it remains constant monthly. With important features like document-wise details, users can easily identify eligible ITC and ensure tax compliance. Users can access GSTR-2B on the GST portal by following specific steps. Clear GST assists in matching GSTR-2B with purchase books efficiently.