Difference in FORM GSTR-3B and FORM GSTR-2A: See what CBIC says

Difference in FORM GSTR-3B and FORM GSTR-2A: See what CBIC says Recently Govt. has made some changes in GST. Various Notification and Circular has been issued by CBIC in the month of Dec 2022. Circular No. 183/15/2022-GST dt. 27.12.2022 has been issued to provide clarification regarding the manner of dealing with discrepancies between the amount of ITC availed by the registered persons in their FORM GSTR-3B and the amount as available in their FORM GSTR-2A during FY 2017-18 and FY2018-19.

In the following circumstances:

i) When the supplier does not submit Form GSTR-1 for a tax period but instead submits Form GSTR-3B, the recipients' Form GSTR-2A is not updated to reflect the supplies made during the tax period. ii) Where the supplier has submitted FORM GSTR-1 as well as a return in FORM GSTR-3B for a tax period, but has neglected to report a specific supply in FORM GSTR-1, the recipient's FORM GSTR-2A does not reflect the said supply. iii) Where supplies were made to a registered person and an invoice was issued in accordance with Rule 46 of the CGST Rules with the recipient's GSTIN, but the supplier mistakenly reported the supply as a B2C supply rather than a B2B supply in his FORM GSTR-1, the said supply is not reflected in the registered person's FORM GSTR-2A. iv) When the supplier reports the supply with the incorrect recipient's GSTIN on Form GSTR-1 despite filing Form GSTR-1 and Form GSTR-3B for the tax period.

Conditions of claiming Input Tax credit

The proper officer must obtain information from the registered person regarding every invoice for which the registered person claimed ITC in his FORMGSTR-3B but which is not reflected in his FORM GSTR 2A. He must then confirm that the requirements of Section 16 of the CGST Act have been met in relation to the input tax credit that the aforementioned registered person has claimed for such invoices: a) that he is in possession of a tax invoice, debit note, or other tax-paying document issued by the supplier. b) that he has received the goods or services or both. c) that he has made payment for the amount towards the value of supply, alongwith tax payable thereon, to the supplier. In addition, the proper officer must determine whether any input tax credit reversals are necessary in accordance with Sections 17 or 18 of the CGST Act and whether the said credits were used within the time frame required by Section 16's Subsection (4). The proper officer will ask the registered person to produce a certificate for the concerned supplier from the Chartered Accountant (CA) or the Cost Accountant (CMA), certifying that supplies in relation to the said invoices of the supplier have actually been made by the supplier in cases where the difference between the ITC claimed in FORM GSTR-3B and that available in FORM GSTR 2A of the registered person for a supplier for the said financial year exceeds Rs 5 lakh. UDIN must be included in certificates issued by CA or CMA. On the ICAI website, you can verify the UDIN of certificates issued by CAs, and on the ICMAI website, you can verify certificates issued by CMAs. The proper officer will ask the claimant to present a certificate from the concerned supplier stating that the aforementioned supplies have actually been made by him to the said registered person and the tax on said supplies has been paid by the said supplier in his return in Form GSTR. This is required in cases where the difference between the ITC claimed in FORM GSTR-3B and that available in FORM GSTR 2A of the registered person in respect of a supplier for the said financial year is up to Rs 5 lakh. In addition, the proper officer of the actual recipient must notify the relevant jurisdictional tax authority of the registered person, whose GSTIN has been incorrectly stated, that ITC on those transactions must be disallowed if claimed by such recipients in their FORMGSTR-3B. This is true in the situations outlined in point (d). However, the tax authority of such registered person, whose GSTIN has been incorrectly stated, will pursue such action as an independent action, and the allowance of ITC to the actual recipient shall not depend on the completion of such action. It should be noted that the aforementioned relaxations will not apply to ITC claims made in the Form GSTR-3B return filed after the due date of furnishing return for the month of September 2018 until the due date of furnishing return for March 2019 if the supplier did not provide details of the said supply in his Form GSTR-1 until the due date of furnishing Form GSTR-1 for the month of March, as per the proviso to Section 16(4) of the CGST Act for the period FY 2017–18. Also to be noted is the fact that the explanations provided here are case-specific and apply to the reporting errors that were made in the financial years (FY) 2017–18 and 2018–19. Furthermore, these guidelines are illustrative in nature and can be applied depending on the specific facts and circumstances of each case; they should not be used to interpret the legal provisions. These instructions do not apply to completed proceedings; rather, they only apply to ongoing scrutiny, audit, investigations, etc. for the financial years 2017–18 and 2018–19. However, in cases where adjudication or appeal proceedings are still pending for the financial years 2017–18 and 2018–19, these instructions will be applicable.