ITC Claim Last Date for FY 2025-26

Many businesses assume that March 2026 purchases can be settled at any point during annual audit. In practice, the statutory window closes strictly on 30 November 2026. Understanding how this cutoff interacts with supplier filings, credit notes, and return amendments is essential to protect your business cash flow.

To understand foundational conditions such as receipt of goods, supplier tax payment, and how auto-population works in your monthly statement, read our guide on input tax credit under GST and how GSTR-2B decides it.

Statutory deadlines under Section 16(4), Section 34(2), and Section 37(3)

The law aligns three separate actions to the same cutoff date following the close of the financial year:

1. Input tax credit cutoff under Section 16(4): Under Section 16(4) of the CGST Act, a registered person cannot take input tax credit in respect of any invoice or debit note for supply of goods or services after 30 November following the end of the financial year to which such invoice or debit note pertains, or furnishing of the relevant annual return, whichever is earlier. CBIC confirmed the application of this deadline in Circular No. 237/31/2024-GST.
2. Credit note declaration under Section 34(2): Under Section 34(2) of the CGST Act, a supplier who issues a credit note in relation to a supply of goods or services must declare the details of that credit note in the return for the month during which such credit note has been issued, but not later than the thirtieth day of November following the end of the financial year in which such supply was made, or the date of furnishing of the relevant annual return, whichever is earlier.
3. Outward supply corrections under Section 37(3): Under the proviso to Section 37(3) of the CGST Act, no rectification of error or omission in respect of the details furnished in Form GSTR-1 is allowed after the thirtieth day of November following the end of the financial year, or the date of furnishing of the relevant annual return, whichever is earlier. This restriction is also detailed on the GST Portal GSTR-1 return guide.

Checklist for FY 2025-26 year-end GST reconciliation

Before closing your books for the year, run through these action points with your accounts team:

• Reconcile purchase register against GSTR-2B: Identify every invoice dated between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026 that is recorded in your books but missing in GSTR-2B.
• Follow up with non-compliant vendors: Ensure suppliers upload missing invoices in their Form GSTR-1 or Invoice Furnishing Facility so that details reflect in your GSTR-2B before your October return filing.
• Verify GSTR-1 amendments: If a vendor entered an incorrect GSTIN, wrong invoice number, or wrong tax value on an invoice from FY 2025-26, request an amendment in Form GSTR-1 before 30 November 2026.
• Adjust outward credit notes: Suppliers must report sales returns, rate differences, or volume discounts for FY 2025-26 supplies on or before 30 November 2026 to reduce outward tax liability.
• Review Rule 37A reversals: Check if vendors filed their GSTR-3B returns by 30 September 2026 for supplies where credit was claimed in FY 2025-26, and take required reversal steps under Rule 37A on or before 30 November 2026.

Debit notes and the Section 16(4) delinking rule

A common point of confusion is how debit notes are treated when the underlying invoice is from an earlier year. Under Section 16(4) of the CGST Act, as amended by Section 120 of the Finance Act 2020 and explained in CBIC Circular No. 160/16/2021-GST, the words "invoice relating to such" were omitted. This delinked the date of the debit note from the date of the original invoice.

For example, if an original invoice was issued in February 2025 (FY 2024-25), but the supplier issues a debit note for price escalation on 10 July 2025 (FY 2025-26), the relevant financial year for the debit note is FY 2025-26. The last date to claim input tax credit on that debit note is 30 November 2026, not 30 November 2025.

Worked example: March 2026 invoice found late

Consider Mehta Engineering Private Limited, a registered manufacturer in Pune. While auditing purchase registers in October 2026, the accountant discovers three invoices issued by vendor Sharma Industrial Tools in March 2026 (FY 2025-26) with total taxable value of ₹5,00,000 and GST of ₹90,000 (CGST ₹45,000 and SGST ₹45,000).

Here is how the three invoices were resolved before the 30 November 2026 deadline:

Formula for total eligible credit recovered before the cutoff:

Eligible recovered ITC = ₹36,000 + ₹32,400 = ₹68,400.

Because the accountant ran reconciliation in October 2026 rather than waiting for December 2026, Mehta Engineering claimed ₹68,400 in their Form GSTR-3B filed on 20 November 2026. The credit on invoice SIT/25-26/106 of ₹21,600 was written off to profit and loss because it could not appear in GSTR-2B before the 30 November 2026 deadline.

Exception: re-claiming credit reversed under Rule 37

The time limit in Section 16(4) applies to taking initial input tax credit. It does not bar you from re-availing credit that was legally claimed earlier and temporarily reversed.

Under Rule 37(4) of the CGST Rules, the time limit specified in sub-section (4) of Section 16 shall not apply to a claim for re-availing of any credit that had been reversed earlier in accordance with the provisions of the Act or Rules. If you reversed credit on a FY 2025-26 invoice because payment was pending beyond 180 days under Rule 37, you can re-claim that credit in Table 4(A)(5) of Form GSTR-3B whenever you make payment to the vendor, even if payment occurs in 2027.

Frequently asked questions

Last checked: 23 October 2026. Sources: CBIC Section 16 CGST Act, GST Portal GSTR-1 Guidelines.