GSTIN › Wrong GSTIN on invoice

Wrong GSTIN on an invoice: what to do

Under Rule 46 of the CGST Rules a tax invoice to a registered buyer must show the buyer's GSTIN. If it is typed wrong, the invoice reaches the wrong account in the GST system, and the real buyer cannot take the input tax credit.

What happens

• The invoice you report in GSTR-1 appears in the GSTR-2B of whoever holds the GSTIN you typed, not in your buyer's.
• Your buyer cannot claim the input tax credit until the correction reaches them, and will usually hold your payment.
• If the GSTIN you typed does not exist at all, the portal refuses it when you file, which is the easy case: correct it and file again.

Before you file GSTR-1

Correct the GSTIN on the invoice in your books, print it again with the same number and date, and send the corrected copy to the buyer. Check every buyer's GSTIN once with a checker like ours before filing; the "GSTINs of your saved customers and suppliers" list shows wrong ones in red.

After you have filed GSTR-1

• Through an amendment in a later GSTR-1 (Table 9A, amended B2B invoices). This is the usual way to change the recipient's GSTIN of an invoice already reported. Tell the buyer, so they can expect the credit in a later GSTR-2B.
• Not through GSTR-1A. GSTR-1A can correct many details of the same month's GSTR-1 before GSTR-3B is filed, but it does not allow changing the recipient's GSTIN.
• Some businesses instead cancel the invoice with a credit note and issue a new one to the right GSTIN. Ask your accountant which way suits your case; it depends on whether the wrong party has already used the credit.

Time limit

Section 37(3) of the CGST Act does not allow a correction of GSTR-1 details after 30 November following the end of the financial year (or the date you file the annual return, if earlier). For an invoice of 2026-27, that means by 30 November 2027. After that, the buyer may lose the credit for good, so correct mistakes the month you find them.

How to avoid it

1. Save each customer once with a checked GSTIN, then pick the saved customer on every bill instead of typing the number again. All Nivesh Sahayak document makers suggest saved customers as you type.
2. Get the GSTIN in writing (a letter, the GST certificate or an e-mail), not over the phone.
3. Look the GSTIN up on the GST portal before the first bill, and use the name the portal shows.