Anomaly check
Purchases missing from GSTR-2B
Credit claimed on an invoice the supplier never reported is the difference the portal itself now measures — and writes to you about under Rule 88D.
Sec. 16(2)(aa), CGST Act r/w Rule 36 and Rule 88D, CGST Rules 2017
Law current as of 21 September 2026
The current position on provisional credit
- There is no percentage allowance any more. Provisional credit beyond what appears in GSTR-2B ended on 1 January 2022. The earlier Rule 36(4) tolerance — 20%, then 10%, then 5% — is history, and so is the old matching machinery in Sections 42 and 43, which was omitted after Budget 2022.
- Credit is available only where the supplier has furnished the invoice in GSTR-1 or IFF and it is communicated to you in GSTR-2B, under Sec. 16(2)(aa). If it is not in 2B, it is not available yet.
What Rule 88D does about it
- Where ITC claimed in GSTR-3B exceeds the credit available in GSTR-2B beyond the notified tolerance, the portal issues an intimation in Form GST DRC-01C.
- Part B has to be answered within seven days — either by paying the difference in DRC-03 or by explaining it.
- Ignore it and the next GSTR-1 or IFF cannot be filed. That is the part that turns a reconciliation gap into a blocked practice.
- DRC-01B is the sibling notice, for a difference between liability declared in GSTR-1 and tax paid in GSTR-3B.
How to stay ahead of it
- Compare claimed credit against 2B before 3B is filed, not after. Our pre-filing DRC-01C check reports the rupee gap and the response window while you can still change the claim.
- Chase the supplier to report the invoice, and keep the follow-up on record.
- Watch Sec. 16(4) at the same time: credit cannot be availed after 30 November following the end of the financial year the document relates to, so a chase that drifts past that date loses the credit permanently.
Test this on a real register
Upload a sales or purchase file in the free simulator — no sign-up — and see every finding with the clause it breaches and the rupee impact. In the signed-in workspace, firm owners and admins can reconcile the books and use the approved figures to prepare and file GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B by EVC.