GST health check & notice risk score
Most GST notices are not the result of anyone examining your books. They fall out automatically from gaps between the returns you have already filed. This scores the fourteen gaps the system actually looks for, and tells you which ones you have.
How is your GST actually run?
Answer honestly — the score is only useful if it is.
What the department can see without asking you
The GST system holds your GSTR-1, your GSTR-3B, your suppliers' GSTR-1 (which becomes your 2B), your e-way bills, your e-invoices, and — through data sharing — your income-tax return and Form 26AS. Every scrutiny notice we see is built from differences between those datasets. The department does not need to visit you to raise one.
| What they compare | The notice that follows |
|---|---|
| GSTR-1 outward supply against GSTR-3B liability | ASMT-10 alleging short payment |
| ITC in GSTR-3B against GSTR-2B | ASMT-10 or DRC-01A proposing reversal with interest |
| Your suppliers' filing status | Denial of credit under section 16(2)(c) |
| GST turnover against ITR and Form 26AS | Notice alleging suppressed turnover |
| E-way bills against reported supply | Notice alleging unreported movement of goods |
| Continuous non-filing | REG-31, then suspension under Rule 21A |
The point of a health check is that every one of these is visible to you too, in advance, and every one is cheaper to fix than to answer. A reconciliation done in the month costs nothing. The same reconciliation done two years later, in response to a notice, costs a professional fee plus interest plus the credit you can no longer recover.
The three things that changed recently
GSTR-3B is hard-locked. From the July 2025 period, Table 3 liability auto-populates and cannot be edited — corrections go through GSTR-1A before 3B is filed. From January 2026 the credit side is locked too and filing is blocked where ITC does not match 2B. Reconciliation is now a precondition to filing rather than a good habit.
Interest is auto-computed. From the January 2026 period the portal populates Table 5.1 of GSTR-3B itself and the figure cannot be revised downward. Whatever your position on Rule 88B, the system takes its own view first.
The three-year door is closing. Returns older than three years can no longer be filed at all. If you are carrying unfiled periods from 2022-23, they are expiring month by month and the credit goes with them.
Common questions
What actually triggers a GST notice?
Almost all scrutiny is system-generated from data the department already holds. The common triggers are a gap between GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, input tax credit in 3B exceeding what appears in 2B, turnover that does not agree with the income-tax return or Form 26AS, e-way bill data that does not match reported outward supply, and continuous non-filing. None of these require anyone to look at your books — they fall out of the returns automatically.
How often should GSTR-2B be reconciled?
Monthly, before filing GSTR-3B — and since January 2026 you have little choice, because the portal blocks filing where the credit claimed does not reconcile with 2B. Businesses that reconcile once a year at audit time are the ones that find, too late, that credit from a defaulting supplier has been sitting in their returns for eleven months.
What is the three-year filing bar?
Sections 37(5), 39(11), 44(2) and 52(15) prevent any GST return being filed more than three years after its original due date. Portal enforcement began with the November 2025 tax period. Once a period crosses the line it cannot be filed at all and the input tax credit attached to it is permanently lost.
Do I need e-invoicing?
E-invoicing applies where aggregate turnover in any financial year since 2017-18 has exceeded the prescribed threshold. The test looks back across all those years, not just the last one, which catches businesses whose turnover has since fallen. Non-compliance is serious: an invoice that should have carried an IRN but does not is not a valid tax invoice, so your customer's credit is at risk as well as your own position.
Is this health check confidential?
You are not asked to upload any document or enter any figure that identifies a transaction. The score is computed entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you choose to submit the enquiry form.
Have a professional check this
Send us what the tool showed you. We will tell you what the position actually is, and what it would cost to deal with, before you commit to anything.
Rather not do this yourself?
We do this work every day on a fixed monthly fee, with no lock-in and a named person on WhatsApp.
Want the full version?
Send us your GSTR-2B and GSTR-3B for the last six months and we will return a written reconciliation — invoice-level ITC mismatches, supplier defaults, 1 vs 3B gaps and RCM exposure, with the amount at risk quantified. Free for businesses above ₹1 crore turnover.
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