ASMT-10 is the notice a GST officer issues after scrutinising your filed returns, listing specific discrepancies — such as mismatches between GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, or between input tax credit claimed and GSTR-2B — and asking you to explain or pay. It is the earliest and softest stage of GST scrutiny; a well-documented reply here can close the matter with no demand at all.
Scrutiny is largely system-driven: software compares your returns against each other and against e-way bill and e-invoice data, and the mismatches become the annexure to the ASMT-10. Common triggers are ITC claimed in GSTR-3B exceeding GSTR-2B, turnover reported in GSTR-1 not matching 3B, unpaid reverse-charge liability, and e-way bill values out of line with declared sales.
Your reply goes in form ASMT-11 within the time stated in the notice, typically thirty days. Address each discrepancy line by line with workings — timing differences, credit notes, and amendments explain most gaps legitimately. If some tax is genuinely payable, pay it through DRC-03 and say so in the reply. A satisfied officer closes the scrutiny with ASMT-12; an unsatisfied one escalates towards audit or a DRC-01A/DRC-01 demand.
The mistake is dismissing it because the amounts look small or the mismatch feels obviously explainable. An ignored ASMT-10 doesn't lapse — it graduates into a show cause notice where penalty enters the picture and the officer has stopped assuming good faith. The cheapest point to resolve a GST dispute is this one.
Act on it
Reviewed to the law in force in FY 2026-27. General information, not advice — confirm the position for your facts before acting.