QUESTION

GSTR 9 THERE IS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TABLE 8A OF GSTR 9 AND GSTR 2A [JULY 17 TO MARCH 19(ALL BILLS RELATED TO F.Y. 17-18)]. ACTUALLY TABLE 8A OF GSTR 9 IS NOT SHOWING CREDIT OF BILLS (RELATED TO F.Y. 17-18) UPLOADED BY SELLER IN JULY 2018,AUG 18, ...MARCH 19. BUT SUCH BILLS ARE PRESENT IN GSTR 2A. SINCE ANNUAL RETURN FILING DATE IS NEAR, WE ARE CONFUSED THAT WHAT TO DO. CLIENT IS NOT READY TO PAY LIABILITY ARISING DUE TO THIS AS ITS ALMOST 7000000/- RS. AND ALSO ALL BILLS ARE GENUINE AND IT`S SELLER WHO UPLOADED BILLS IN LATER MONTHS. NOW WHAT TO DO? SHALL I E-FILE GSTR 9 RETURN WITH SUCH DIFFERENCE?? UPON CONTACTING GST HELPDESK , THEY SAID TO LODGE COMPLAINT ON GREIVANCE PORTAL. HAVE LODGED COMPLAINTS MANY TIMES ON THAT PORTAL BUT OUR PROBLEMS ARE NEVER SOLVED BY THEM. FIGURES OF TABLE 8A OF GSTR 9 WERE NEVER REFLECTED WITH SUCH INVOICES WHICH WERE UPLOADED AFTER MARCH 18. THIS KIND OF PROBLEM IS NOT LIMITED TO ONE CLIENT. I THINK IT`S TECHNICAL ERROR ON PORTAL WHICH HAS BEEN TORMENTING US REGULARLY. CLIENT IS FORCING ME TO E-FILE RETURN WITH SUCH DIFFERENCE TO AVOID LATE FEES.

ANSWER

Facts of the case:
Mismatch between GSTR-2A and amount of GSTR-2A reflecting in Table 8A of GSTR-9

Law applicable:
SECTION 16 OF CGST ACT
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, no registered person shall be entitled to the credit of any input tax in respect of any supply of goods or services or both to him unless,''
a) he is in possession of a tax invoice or debit note issued by a supplier registered under this Act, or such other tax paying documents as may be prescribed;
b) he has received the goods or services or both.
Explanation. 'For the purposes of this clause, it shall be deemed that the registered person has received the goods or, as the case may be, services''
(i) where the goods are delivered by the supplier to a recipient or any other person on the direction of such registered person, whether acting as an agent or
otherwise, before or during movement of goods, either by way of transfer of documents of title to goods or otherwise;
(ii) where the services are provided by the supplier to any person on the direction of and on account of such registered person.
c) 'subject to the provisions of section 41,the tax charged in respect of such supply has been actually paid to the Government, either in cash or through utilization of input tax credit admissible in respect of the said supply; and
d) he has furnished the return under section 39

Press Release dt.03.07.2019-Clarification regarding Annual Returns and Reconciliation Statement

c) Premise of Table 8D of Annual Return: There appears to be some confusion regarding declaration of input tax credit in Table 8 of the annual return. The input tax credit which is declared / computed in Table 8D is basically credit that was available to a taxpayer in his FORM GSTR-2A but was not availed by him between July 2017 to March 2019. The deadline has already passed and the taxpayer cannot avail such credit now. There is no question of lapsing of any such credit, since this credit never entered the electronic credit ledger of any taxpayer. Therefore, taxpayers need not be concerned about the values reflected in this table. This is merely an information that the Government needs for settlement purposes. Figures in Table 8A of FORM GSTR-9 are auto-populated only for those FORM GSTR-1 which were furnished by the corresponding suppliers by the due date. Thus, ITC on supplies made during the financial year 2017-18, if reported beyond the said date by the corresponding supplier, will not get auto-populated in said Table 8A. It may also be noted that FORM GSTR-2A continues to be auto-populated on the basis of the corresponding FORM GSTR-1 furnished by suppliers even after the due date. In such cases there would be a miss-match between the updated FORM GSTR-2A and the auto-populated information in Table 8A. It is important to note that Table 8A of the annual returns is auto-populated from FORM GSTR-2A as on 1st May, 2019.

Interpretation:
As per Section 16(2) you are eligible for ITC subject to fulfillment of specified conditions. There is no need for reversal of ITC if you are eligible as per Section 16(2) even if the same is not reflecting in GSTR-2A because as per section 16(2) there is no condition that ITC will be eligible only when the same is reflecting in GSTR-2A.

Further it is clarified that ITC on supplies made during the financial year 2017-18, if reported beyond the said date by the supplier, will not get auto-populated in Table 8A. However FORM GSTR-2A continues to be auto-populated on the basis of the corresponding FORM GSTR-1 furnished by suppliers even after the due date. In such cases there would be a miss-match between the updated FORM GSTR-2A and the auto-populated information in Table 8A. Table 8A of the annual returns is auto-populated from FORM GSTR-2A as on 1st May, 2019.

Conclusion:
You are eligible for ITC and there is no need for reversal of ITC subject to fulfillment of the conditions specified in section 16.