Supplier Not Filing GSTR-1? An ITC Follow-Up Playbook

Your claim for input tax credit does not rest only on holding a valid tax invoice. It also depends on the supplier reporting that invoice in their outward supply return. Once they report it, the invoice appears in your auto-drafted statement on the GST portal. If the supplier does not file, or files and leaves your invoice out, the credit you expect may not show on your side.

This guide covers only that principle and the routine for following up. Time limits, reversal rules, interest and penalties are outside its scope. Your CA should apply the current rules to your case, and the GST portal is the place to check current requirements.

Run these steps every month, after the auto-drafted statement for the period is available and before your CA prepares the return. Keeping the same order each month means nothing is missed.

1. Spot the gap. Export the auto-drafted statement and compare it invoice by invoice with your purchase register. List every invoice that is in your books but not on the statement, with supplier GSTIN, invoice number, date and tax amount.
2. Confirm it is really missing. Check for a mistyped invoice number, a wrong GSTIN, a different invoice date or an invoice your team booked in the wrong period before you contact anyone.
3. Contact the supplier in writing. Use the short script below by email or another channel that keeps a record. Name the specific invoices; do not simply ask them to check their GST.
4. Log every attempt. Record the supplier, invoice, date raised, response and next step in the tracking table. One row per invoice keeps the status clear.
5. Escalate if there is no response. After a follow-up gets no reply, contact a more senior person at the supplier, such as the owner or their accounts head, and copy the person who handles your purchases from them.
6. Decide with your CA whether to hold payment. If invoices remain unreported, review your purchase agreement or terms with your CA before withholding any amount. Do not act on a hold by yourself.
7. Tell your CA what is pending. Before the return is prepared, share the tracker showing which invoices are still missing, what the supplier has said and what you have decided about payment.

Keep the first message short, factual and polite. A gap is often an oversight or a data-entry error rather than refusal, so make it easy for the supplier to fix. A sample message:

For a second follow-up, refer to the date of your first message and ask for a specific reply. If you escalate, keep the same tone and add that the matter affects scheduled payments, but only after you have discussed this with your CA. Do not make threats or claims about the supplier's legal position.

A simple spreadsheet is enough. The key is one row per invoice and a next step on every row. When the tracker is reviewed, any row without a next step needs action.

Close a row only after the invoice appears on the auto-drafted statement and matches your books. A supplier saying it is done is not enough. Keep closed rows; they show which suppliers often need chasing when you review vendors later.

Withholding payment can pressure a supplier to file, but it can also breach your agreement or damage the relationship. Whether you may hold an amount, how much and for how long depends on your purchase terms. Agree this with your CA, and your legal adviser where needed, before telling the supplier.

Once a hold is agreed, mark the invoice in your payables so it is not paid in the next payment run by mistake. The weekly supplier payment run routine guide shows where this check fits. Release the hold as soon as the invoice is reported and the CA confirms.

• Waiting until the return is due before comparing the purchase register with the statement.
• Chasing a supplier by phone only, leaving no record of what was asked or promised.
• Closing a tracker row on the supplier's word instead of checking the statement.
• Holding payment without checking the agreement with your CA first.
• Giving the CA a long email thread instead of a clear list of pending invoices.
• Assuming every gap is the supplier's fault when your own booking error may be the cause.

This routine does not apply where the supplier's GST registration has been cancelled; that needs different checks, covered in the guide on supplier GST registration cancelled ITC checks. Imports, reverse-charge purchases and supplies from unregistered parties also follow different rules, so ask your CA. For the wider monthly matching process, see the input tax credit reconciliation guide.