General information, not advice for your case. Rules, forms and due dates change, and your facts matter. Check the dates in your own notice or on the official portal, and talk to us before acting.

If you are a GST-registered business, you have probably seen it: the input tax credit (ITC) in your purchase register does not match what the portal shows in GSTR-2B. Sometimes the gap is small and temporary. Sometimes it leads to a notice. This guide explains what each return is, why the gap appears, and how to keep it under control each month.

GSTR-2B and GSTR-3B in plain words

GSTR-2B is a statement the GST portal prepares for you. It lists the input tax credit available to you for a month, based on what your suppliers reported in their own returns (GSTR-1, IFF and others) and on import data. It is generated on a fixed date after the month ends — around the 14th for monthly filers — and does not change on its own after that.

GSTR-3B is the summary return you file. You report your sales, pay the tax and claim ITC. For monthly filers it is typically due on the 20th of the next month; quarterly (QRMP) filers have different dates. See our due-date calendar for the FY 2026–27 dates.

Put simply: 2B is what the system says you can claim; 3B is what you actually claim.

Why the match matters

Under the GST law, you can generally claim ITC on a purchase only if the supplier has reported it and it appears in your GSTR-2B (along with the usual conditions: you have a valid invoice, received the goods or services, and the tax has been paid to the government). So if the ITC claimed in your GSTR-3B is higher than GSTR-2B, the portal treats the excess as a red flag.

Where the excess crosses a set threshold, the system can issue DRC-01C, asking you to pay the difference or explain it. Until you respond, filing your next GSTR-1 may be blocked in some cases. ITC that is wrongly claimed and used can attract interest (currently 18% a year) and possibly penalty.

Common causes of a mismatch

When 3B is higher than 2B

  • The supplier has not filed yet, or filed after the 2B cut-off. The invoice will usually appear in a later month’s 2B.
  • The supplier used the wrong GSTIN or reported your purchase as a B2C sale, so it never reaches your 2B.
  • Credit claimed on bills that should not be claimed, such as blocked credits (certain motor vehicle, food and personal expenses) or bills from suppliers whose registration was cancelled.
  • Duplicate entry of the same bill in your books.
  • Timing on your side — you booked the bill before the supplier dated it, or in the wrong month.

When 2B is higher than 3B

  • Bills missing from your books — the supplier reported it, but nobody passed you the invoice.
  • Credit deliberately held back, for example because goods have not been received or the bill is disputed.
  • Ineligible credit shown in 2B that you correctly chose not to claim.
  • Credit notes from suppliers that reduce ITC but were not booked.

A lower claim is not a notice risk in the same way, but it can mean you are paying more tax than you need to. Note that ITC has a time limit: for invoices of a financial year, it generally has to be claimed by 30 November of the following year (or the annual return date, if earlier).

Invoice Management System (IMS)

Since late 2024, the portal’s Invoice Management System lets you accept, reject or keep pending each supplier invoice before GSTR-2B is finalised. Rejected or pending invoices affect what appears in your 2B. Check the current GSTN advisories, because the IMS and the editability of GSTR-3B fields have been changing.

A monthly reconciliation routine

  1. Book every purchase bill for the month with the supplier’s GSTIN, invoice number, date, taxable value and tax.
  2. Review supplier invoices in IMS and take a decision on each, where applicable.
  3. Download GSTR-2B once it is generated for the month.
  4. Match line by line on GSTIN and invoice number, then compare values. Sort into four buckets: matched, in books but not in 2B, in 2B but not in books, and value differences.
  5. Chase suppliers for anything in your books but not in 2B. Share a simple list of invoice numbers and amounts.
  6. Claim in GSTR-3B only what is eligible and appears in 2B. Keep a running list of credits deferred to a later month.
  7. Record the reasons for any remaining difference, with documents, so you can answer a notice in minutes.

Doing this every month takes far less time than untangling a year of mismatches at annual-return time or in reply to a scrutiny notice.

If you receive a DRC-01C

Read the notice on the portal, note the month and the difference, and reply within the time given — typically 7 days. You can usually pay the excess through DRC-03 with interest, explain the difference (for example, supplier filed late and the credit appears in the following month’s 2B), or do a mix of both. Attach your reconciliation. Our guide on what to do in the first 7 days after a GST notice walks through the steps.

How we handle it for clients

For clients on our GST returns service, we reconcile purchases to GSTR-2B every month before preparing GSTR-3B, and send you a short list of suppliers to chase. In Accounting Buddy, your GSTR-2B is brought in alongside your bank statement, so our accountants can see which purchase bills have reached 2B while they code and review your books, before your GSTR-3B is prepared.

GST return filing starts from ₹2,999 a month, GST extra. We confirm a fixed fee after a free call.

Disclaimer. This guide is general information for Indian taxpayers as of November 2026 and is not professional advice for your specific situation. Laws, notifications and portal processes change. Calculators — The Tax People is not responsible for decisions made on the basis of this article alone. Please talk to us, or another qualified professional, about your case.