GST refund of accumulated ITC: Annexure-B must now be filed through the portal’s offline utility

What has changed

Until now, Annexure-B for refunds involving accumulated input tax credit was uploaded as a PDF. The GST portal advisory dated 18 May 2026 says a standardised Annexure-B Offline Utility has been deployed, and taxpayers are required to furnish Annexure-B through it going forward.

Refund categories covered

• Exports of goods or services without payment of tax (accumulated ITC), excluding electricity.
• Supplies made to an SEZ unit or SEZ developer without payment of tax.
• ITC accumulated due to inverted tax structure [clause (ii) of the first proviso to section 54(3)].
• Export of electricity without payment of tax (accumulated ITC).

How the utility must be filled

• Two tables: Table 1 — reversal details; Table 2 — HSN/SAC-wise inward invoice details for which ITC was claimed in GSTR-3B.
• An invoice with more than one category (inputs, input services, capital goods) or more than one HSN/SAC is split into separate line items, each with one category and one HSN/SAC; value and tax are distributed proportionately.
• Each line also states whether the ITC is blocked under section 17(5).
• Duplicates are checked on supplier GSTIN, invoice number, invoice date, category and HSN/SAC — only one line for the same combination.
• Reversals under rules 38, 42, 43 and section 17(5), and other reversals in Table 4(B)(2) of GSTR-3B, are reported as per the month’s GSTR-3B. Where several files are used, reversals go only in the final file; the earlier files show zero.

Upload and checks

• The JSON is uploaded on the RFD-01 screen through “Click to upload the Statement of invoices (Unutilized ITC)”.
• Invoices are validated with GSTR-2B. For GSTR-2B periods up to October 2024 there is no validation; the portal shows a generic message, the invoices remain part of the validated documents, and the refund can be filed.
• Mismatches for November 2024 onwards appear in an Invalid documents report.
• Do not edit the JSON or rename it after generation; make changes in the utility and generate a fresh JSON.

Volume limit

One utility file takes up to 10,000 line items and up to 25 files can be uploaded — 2,50,000 line items in a single refund application. Invoices beyond that can be submitted as supporting documents in PDF.