The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) continues its
efforts to refine the GST compliance ecosystem by enhancing the Invoice
Management System (IMS). In a significant move to facilitate smoother
reconciliation for businesses involved in international trade, the GSTN has
introduced a dedicated 'Import of Goods' section within the IMS,
effective from the October 2025 tax period.
This new feature aims to bridge the gap between Customs data
and GST records, ultimately making the Input Tax Credit (ITC) claim process
more transparent and efficient for importers.
1. Understanding the Context: What is IMS?
The Invoice Management System (IMS) was first rolled out on
the GST portal starting with the October 2024 tax period. Its primary function
is to empower recipient taxpayers to proactively manage the documents
uploaded by their suppliers.
Before this enhancement, the IMS allowed recipients to accept,
reject, or keep pending individual inward supply records that were uploaded
by their suppliers through GSTR-1, GSTR-1A, or the Invoice Furnishing Facility
(IFF). This mechanism helped ensure cleaner data flow before the
auto-population into the GSTR-2B.
2. The New Enhancement: Import of Goods
The latest update extends the reconciliation capabilities of
the IMS beyond domestic supplies to include crucial import documents.
The new 'Import of Goods' section now makes the
following documents available to the recipient taxpayer for review and action:
Ø Bills of Entry (BoE) for Direct Imports: This includes all Bills of Entry filed
by the taxpayer for goods imported directly into India.
Ø Imports from Special Economic Zones
(SEZs): BoE records
for goods imported from SEZ units will also be available in this section.
This integration means that the data previously available
only in the auto-drafted GSTR-2B (which already captures Customs data)
is now accessible within the more dynamic and actionable IMS framework.
3. Impact on Taxpayer Compliance and GSTR-2B
The introduction of this feature is a major boost for
compliance ease, particularly for taxpayers who rely heavily on imported goods.
Actionable Reconciliation
For each individual Bill of Entry listed in the 'Import of
Goods' section, the taxpayer is given the allowance to take a specific action: Accept,
Reject, or Keep Pending.
This facility helps ensure that the ITC being claimed is
directly validated against the taxpayer's own records before final submission.
It minimizes disputes later arising from mismatches in Customs data.
Deemed Acceptance Rule
Similar to the rule for domestic supplies in IMS, the GSTN
advisory clarifies the treatment of untouched records:
If no action is taken on an individual Bill of Entry by the recipient taxpayer,
the record will be treated as deemed accepted.
Impact on GSTR-2B Generation
The actions taken by the taxpayer (Accept, Reject, Pending)
on both domestic invoices and the new 'Import of Goods' records will be
factored in by the GST Portal. Based on these actions, the draft GSTR-2B
for the recipient will be generated on the 14th day of the subsequent month,
providing a reliable, consolidated summary of eligible ITC.
By bringing import data into the proactive reconciliation
environment of the IMS, the GSTN has successfully enhanced control, reduced
clerical errors, and significantly simplified the complex process of claiming
ITC on integrated tax paid on imports.
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