GST

All You Need To Know About Form GSTR 2A

The GST legislation was introduced in India in 2017. It is a form of indirect taxation levied on the supply of goods and services. With the onset of this legislation, it has subsumed all other indirect taxes except a few. Considering a lot of compliances under the GST law, there is some lack of clarity among people about its functioning. A business needs to comply with many GST forms in order to stay compliant. One of these forms is known as GSTR 2A. This article will provide a complete overview of form GSTR 2A.

Form GSTR 2A- Introduction

GSTR 2A is a purchase-related document provided by the GST portal to businesses that are registered with it. This form is generated automatically when a seller or counterparty uploads Form GSTR 1/5. It notes the purchases made by the company in a period and notes the details of the invoice.

It is a read-only document that informs the business about the invoice details of its sellers. The businesses or enterprises are required to verify this form and correct any discrepancies in it before filing returns. As a taxpayer, you don’t need to file this form as it is only a read-only document, providing a record of all invoices obtained from different suppliers.

Generation of the Form

Form GSTR 2A refers to a statement of inward supplies for a recipient which is system generated. This form will be generated in the following scenarios:

• In a case where the supplier uploads the details of B2B transaction in their Form GSTR-1 / 5
• Details of ISD will be auto-populated on submitting Form GSTR- 6 by the Input Service Distributor
• Details of TDS and TCS will be auto-populated when Form GSTR-7 and 8, respectively, are filed by the counterparty
• Auto-population of imported goods from overseas on the bill of entry as obtained from the ICEGATE Portal of Indian Customs.

Form GSTR 2A shall be generated in the following ways-

• After saving or filing or submitting the form GSTR-1 by suppliers, when the counterparty adds invoices or Credit or Debit Notes, or when amendments are made in Form GSTR-1/5.
• Form GSTR-6 is provided for distributing credit in the form of Input Service Distributor credit invoices or Input Service Distributor credit notes.
• When Form GSTR-7 and 8 are filed by the counterparty for TDS and TCS credit, respectively.

It may be noted that the details are made available to the recipient for viewing and/or downloading. It is updated incrementally when supplier(s) upload or change the details in their form of return or statement for the specific tax period. Form GSTR 2A of a particular tax period is available for viewing or downloading.

Viewing Form GSTR-2A for a tax period

Taxpayers should note the following for viewing the said form for a tax period-

• Any invoices uploaded by the supplier in the form GSTR-1/ GSTR-5 shall be viewed in Form GSTR 2A. However, the details of ISD shall be auto-populated to Form GSTR 2A after the submission of Form GSTR-6 only.
• After the counterparty has submitted or filed their return, the invoices in Form GSTR 2A shall remain available and visible.
• The TDS and TCS credit receipt details shall be available in Part C of Form GSTR 2A of the recipient after the counterparty files Form GSTR-7/8.
• Auto-population of the data of the import of goods in Part D as obtained from the ICEGATE Portal of the Indian Customs.

Format of GSTR 2A

According to the government mandate, the format of this form comprises 7 heads. They have been discussed below-

1. GSTIN- In this, the GSTIN of the dealer will be reflected.

2. Name of the Taxpayer- As the name suggests, in this, the taxpayer’s name will be stated, which includes the trade name.

Part A

3. Inward supplies obtained from the registered person apart from the supplies attracting a reverse charge- Majority of the purchases from the sellers shall be auto-populated here from GSTR 1 that the seller files. It shall contain the details like the rate and amount of the GST, eligible ITC, and ITC amount, but it shall not have the purchases under the reverse charge.

4. Inward supplies obtained from the registered person on which tax has to be paid on reverse charge- It shall contain the purchases and supplies obtained from taxable as well as non-taxable persons for which GST will have to be paid under the reverse charge.

5. Debit notes or Credit notes, including amendments, obtained during the current tax period- It shall capture the details of the debit and credit notes the seller issue during a month. It shall also comprise the changes made to it by comparing the revised documents with the original ones.

Part B

6. ISD Credit received (including amendments)- In the case of a branch, the data under this shall be auto-populated when the head office files the GSTR 6 for the month.

Part C

7. TDS and TCS Credit Received-

TDS Credit shall only be applicable if specified contracts are entered with persons that are usually government bodies. The government shall deduct a specific percentage of the transaction value as TDS. All information shall be auto-populated here from GSTR 7, filed by the deductor.

TCS Credit shall be applicable only to those online sellers who are registered with e-commerce operators. These operators must collect tax at source when the payment is made to such sellers. The information shall be auto-populated from the e-commerce operators’ GSTR-8.

Viewing Form GSTR 2A

If a taxpayer wants to view this form, then the following steps have to be followed:

• Go to the official website of the GST, i.e., GST portal^[1];
• Log in with your credentials;
• Go to services on the dashboard;
• Click on returns and then move to the returns dashboard;
• The File Returns page will be displayed;
• Mention the financial year and the return filing period and click on search;
• Then click on the View option;
• The GSTR 2A-auto-drafted details page will be displayed.

Impact of Debit Note/Credit Note on Form GSTR 2A post delinking with invoices

Before delinking the debit/credit note with invoices, the original invoice number and date were linked with the notes. It was auto-drafted from GSTR 1 for viewing. After delinking the debit/credit note with invoices, the original invoice number and date are not linked to the notes. Thus, the details cannot be viewed. Earlier the POS field was not available, but now it is a mandatory field. Earlier, fields such as note supply type and supply attract reverse charge weren’t available, but after delinking, both are available now.

Difference between Form GSTR 2A (2A Form) and Form GSTR 2B (2B Form)

Both these forms reflect similar details; however, there are certain points of difference between the two. These differences have been summarised below-

• Statement type

The 2A form is a form of a dynamic statement where the details of the inward supplies with regard to input tax credit are updated continuously. On the other hand, the 2B form is a static statement wherein the details are constantly updated.

• Reflection of details

In 2A form, the details of the inward supply are reflected in the statement in real-time. This means that the details shall be updated when the supplier provides the details of outward supplies in Form GSTR 1 or through the invoicing furnishing facility. However, in the case of the 2B form, the details of the inward supply shall be reflected statically. It shall reflect the details of the outward supplies between the due dates of form GSTR 1 or the aforesaid facility.

• Bifurcation of ITC

The 2A form does not provide for the bifurcation of the eligible input tax credit or the ineligible input tax credit. However, in the case of the 2B form, it briefly bifurcates both the eligible input tax credit and ineligible input tax credit.

• Data compilation

The 2A form compiles the data based on the return filed by the supplier in different Forms, such as GSTR 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8. However, in the case of 2B, form data complies with Form GSTR 1, 5, and 6 filed by the supplier.

Conclusion

Form GSTR 2A for a specific tax period shall be provided for viewing purposes and for downloading in a post-login mode on the GST portal. It provides a record of all invoices obtained from different suppliers. GST has brought in a number of compliances which requires the filing of forms through the GST portal, however, this form doesn’t have to be filed as it is only a read-only document.

Read Our Article: GST Registration Requirements (Goods and Services)