Electronic Credit Ledger

1. What is an Electronic Credit Ledger?

In the Electronic Credit Ledger, all credits accrued on account of inward supplies made by a taxpayer within a tax period are accumulated. The ledger is maintained Major Head-wise, i.e., IGST, CGST, SGST, and CESS.

2. Who maintains the Electronic Credit Ledger?

The Electronic Credit Ledger is maintained by the GST System.

3. Where can the taxpayers view their Electronic Credit Ledger?

Taxpayers can view their Electronic Credit Ledger in the post login mode by logging on to the GST Portal. Path: Services > Ledgers > Electronic Credit Ledger

4. Can a taxpayer view the Electronic Credit Ledger of another taxpayer?

No. An Electronic Credit Ledger can be viewed only by the taxpayers themselves or by the concerned Jurisdictional Officer (JO).

5 . How can the credit available in the Electronic Credit Ledger be utilized? Can a taxpayer utilize the credit available in one major head to pay tax liability under any other major head?

The amount available in the Electronic Credit Ledger can be utilized for paying off tax liabilities as per the following rules:

ITC of IGST will first be utilised for payment of IGST output tax liability and then the balance can be utilized for payment of CGST and SGST in that order.
ITC of CGST will first be utilised for payment of CGST output tax liability and then the balance can be utilized for payment of IGST.
ITC of SGST will first be utilised for payment of SGST output tax liability and then balance can be utilized for payment of IGST.
ITC of CESS can be utilized only against CESS tax liability. CESS credit is not available for cross utilization with other tax liabilities.

Note: Credit of SGST cannot be utilised for payment of CGST and vice versa.

6. How can a taxpayer check the available balance in the Electronic Credit Ledger?

A taxpayer can login to the GST Portal and check the available balance on the landing page of the Electronic Credit Ledger.

Path: Services > Ledgers > Electronic Credit Ledger

7. Can a taxpayer make debit entry in advance for the future liability in the Electronic Credit Ledger?

No, the Electronic Credit Ledger can be debited only against an existing tax liability.

8. Can the amount available in the Electronic Credit Ledger be deemed as payment for any liability?

No, unless the taxpayer makes a debit entry from the Electronic Credit Ledger against a specific liability, the amount available in the Electronic Credit Ledger cannot be assigned to any liability.

9. Can a Departmental Officer debit the Electronic Credit Ledger in case of outstanding dues?

Yes, in exceptional circumstances as permitted in the Act and rules, especially when the amount of additional demand is not stayed by the Appellate Authority, Tribunal, or Court, the credit can be debited to the extent of the demand by the proper officer.

10. Is it necessary to claim refund of the excess amount available in the Electronic Credit Ledger?

No, the amount may continue to remain in the Electronic Credit Ledger and can be utilised for any future liability. Refund can only be claimed if ITC has been accumulated due to export of goods and/or services and/or due to rate of tax on outward supplies being lower than inward supplies.

11. Can a taxpayer utilise the credit available in the Electronic Credit Ledger for purposes other than return liability?

Yes. Taxpayer can utilize the credit against other than return related liabilities as well. However, credit can be adjusted only against tax liability.

12. Can I download the Credit Ledger?

Yes. You can download and save the Credit ledger from your dashboard in PDF and CSV format on your local machine.

13. Where can I see my transitional credit?

You can see your transitional credit in the Electronic Credit Ledger. This is identified with a different description and reference.

14. Where can I see the credit on transition from composition to normal taxpayer?

You can see your credit on transition from composition to normal taxpayer in the Electronic Credit Ledger.

15. Electronic Credit Ledger is not maintained for which taxpayers?

Electronic Credit Ledger is not maintained for composition taxpayer, ISD taxpayer and Tax Deductor & E-commerce operator.

16. Can I edit the Electronic Credit Ledger?

No, you cannot edit the Electronic Credit Ledger. You can ONLY view the details in the Electronic Credit Ledger.

17. What is provisional credit table? What does it show?

Provisional credit tables display the balance of provisional and mismatch credit tax period wise. Navigate to Services > Ledgers > Electronic Credit Ledger > Provisional Credit Balance link to view it.

18. How a taxpayer can utilize credit available in Electronic Credit Ledger?

The credit available can be utilized to pay off the tax liabilities as per the utilization rules. Balance in credit ledger cannot be utilized for payment of fees, Penalty and interest.

19. Can a GST Practitioner view my Credit ledger? Can I allow or deny access to my GST Practitioner to view my Credit ledger?

Yes, a GST Practitioner can view your Credit ledger who has been authorized by you. You can allow or deny GST practitioner to view your credit ledger by online engaging/disengaging a GST practitioner.

20. Electronic Credit Ledger can be viewed for which period?

You can view the Electronic Credit Ledger for a maximum period of 6 months.

21. Can cess be used to make payment of IGST/ CGST/ SGST/ UTGST?

No, Credit availed on CESS will be available for setoff against any output tax liability of CESS only. There is no Inter head adjustment for CESS Input Tax Credit.

22. What is blocking or unblocking of ITC in Electronic Credit Ledger?

Jurisdiction Officer may scrutinize the amount of ITC claimed by a taxpayer, through GST TRAN-1 and GST TRAN-2 etc. for its authentication. The concerned Jurisdiction Officer may decide to temporarily block the ITC available to a taxpayer, wherever it is felt that further investigation is required, in the interest of the revenue. The Jurisdictional Officer may block CGST, SGST, IGST & Cess balance in whole or in part.

The Jurisdictional Officer after investigation may unblock the ITC that was previously blocked.

An email and SMS is sent to the taxpayer for blocking or unblocking of ITC

23. Where can I view blocked credit balance?

Navigate to Services > Ledgers > Electronic Credit Ledger > Blocked Credit Balance to view the blocked credit balance.

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11. Can a taxpayer claim ITC on the inward supplies if the supplier has not filed the return?

The taxpayers can claim the ITC by adding invoices in their inward supplies return (GSTR 2/5/6) on a provisional basis. The ITC claimed would continue to be classified under the mismatched category till the supplier accepts the invoices and files a valid return. If the supplier does not file the return, then the mismatched ITC would be reversed with interest in the (M+2) tax period.

12. Can a taxpayer reclaim the mismatched ITC again any time in future?

Yes, if the supplier owns up to the supplies claimed by the receiver taxpayer by filing a valid return, then, the reversed credit can be reclaimed. The interest on the reversed ITC would be credited in the Electronic Cash Ledger. The reclaim of credit will happen automatically in the system.

14. Will the credit be available in the Electronic Credit Ledger accrued due to the inward supplies even if the taxpayer does not file return for that tax period?

No, the credit accrued on the inward supplies made in a tax period would be credited to the Electronic Credit Ledger after GSTR-3 generation and click on “submit interest and liability” function. However, in case of non-resident and ISD taxpayer, credit is available only after the submission of the return.

20. When is Electronic Credit Ledger updated?

The Electronic Credit Ledger is updated based on any transactions that may impact the available credit through Return modules and the same is done based on specific triggers like “Submit Interest and Liability” in GSTR-3.

22. What is mismatch table? What does it show?

Mismatch credit tables display the balance of provisional and mismatch credit tax period wise.

26. When provisional credit is given to taxpayer in Electronic Credit Ledger?

Provisional credit would be given on filing of valid GSTR-3 by receiver taxpayer and thereafter can be utilized for other liabilities.

27. When provisional credit given to taxpayer would become final credit in Electronic Credit Ledger?

Provisional credit would become final credit on filing of valid GSTR 3/ 5 by the supplier and thereafter can be utilized for other liabilities.

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Sunday, September 30, 2018