GST Refund Process Overhaul: Annexure‑B To Be Filed Only Through Offline Utility From 18 May 2026

From 18 May 2026, the GST refund mechanism for accumulated Input Tax Credit (ITC) is undergoing a major procedural overhaul. The GST Network (GSTN) has withdrawn the facility of uploading Annexure‑B in PDF format. Instead, assessee claiming specific categories of GST refunds must compulsorily furnish Annexure‑B using a dedicated Excel-based Offline Utility available on the GST portal.

Put simply, the earlier option of attaching Annexure‑B as a PDF document has been completely disabled. The Excel Offline Utility is now the sole valid mode for submitting Annexure‑B for eligible refund claims.

Scope of the Change – Who Must Use the Offline Utility?

The revised procedure applies to refund claims involving accumulated ITC in the following categories:

  1. Export of goods or services without payment of tax (accumulated ITC)
  2. Supplies made to SEZ Unit / SEZ Developer without payment of tax
  3. Refund of ITC accumulated due to inverted duty structure under Section 54(3), CGST Act
  4. Export of electricity without payment of tax (accumulated ITC)

For these refund categories, Annexure‑B submitted through any mode other than the prescribed Offline Utility after 18 May 2026 will not be accepted by the portal.

Core Features of the New Annexure‑B Filing Process

1. Invoice‑wise, HSN/SAC‑wise Reporting – No Aggregation Permitted

Under the revamped system, every input document must be reported at a granular level. The assessee has to capture each invoice line item separately under the following heads:

  • Inputs
  • Input Services
  • Capital Goods

Where a single purchase invoice contains:

  • More than one HSN/SAC code, or
  • A mix of supplies falling under different categories (for example, both Inputs and Capital Goods)

then the assessee must:

  • Break up that one invoice into multiple rows in the Offline Utility,
  • Allocate the taxable value and tax components proportionately to each HSN/SAC and supply category, and
  • Ensure that the sum of all split values tallies with the original invoice.

Practical implication: Assessees who do not maintain their purchase records HSN/SAC‑wise and category‑wise will find it difficult to compile accurate Annexure‑B at the time of refund filing. Data must be organised and cleaned up before opening the Offline Utility, not during the upload stage.

2. System‑Enforced De‑duplication – Duplicate Entries Will Be Rejected

The Offline Utility and back‑end system together enforce a strict duplicate‑check mechanism. Any instance where the following combination appears more than once will be rejected:

  • Supplier GSTIN
  • Invoice Number
  • Invoice Date
  • Supply Category (Inputs / Input Services / Capital Goods)
  • HSN/SAC

Each unique combination can only be reported once in Annexure‑B.

  • If an assessee mistakenly repeats the same combination, the system will hard reject the duplicate entry.
  • There is no option to override or bypass this check.

This makes it essential to:

  • Remove all duplicate invoices from the working file before uploading, and
  • Verify that no invoice is being reported more than once across different utility files for the same refund period.

3. ITC Reversal Reporting – Compulsory One‑to‑One Match with GSTR‑3B

Reversals of ITC under the following provisions must exactly correspond to the figures disclosed in GSTR-3B for the relevant tax period:

  • Rule 38 of the CGST Rules
  • Rule 42 of the CGST Rules
  • Rule 43 of the CGST Rules
  • Section 17(5) of the CGST Act

Key expectations:

  • The Offline Utility requires precise reporting of ITC reversals. Estimates or rounded‑off figures are not acceptable.
  • The totals entered for these reversals in Annexure‑B must reconcile with the values reported in GSTR-3B for the same period.