Invoice issued at wrong GSTIN which is now cancelled

[Rajat Gupta]

My client issued an invoice dated 26.05.2026 and reported it in GSTR-1. Soon after, he realised it was issued against the old GSTIN of the buyer. When I tried to amend the value of invoice, the portal restricts saying 'GSTIN of the recipient is cancelled'. Neither does portal allow reporting of credit note against that invoice.

Since it is an intra-state B2B transaction, I am also unable to report CN under B2C. My Client does not have any B2C supply. How can I tackle this situation and reduce the tax liability in the returns?

[Sadanand Bulbule]

Section 34 of the CGST Act does not prohibit issuance of a credit note merely because the recipient's GSTIN has been cancelled; the restriction is only a GST portal validation. Accordingly, issue a manual credit note and a fresh invoice to the correct GSTIN, and seek GSTN/jurisdictional officer intervention (or refund under Section 54, if required) to give effect to the tax adjustment.

Consult the experts.

[Rajat Gupta]

Thank you Sir. I appreciate your analysis and thoughts. Will explore this option if anything else doesn't work. Getting a refund from the department is really a headache in such matters

[KASTURI SETHI]

Dear Sir,

Correct advice to the querist by you. All facts should be brought to the notice of jurisdictional GST Range Officer in writing.

In my view, the problem can be solved without consulting the experts. Your guidelines are sufficient to solve the problem.

[Sadanand Bulbule]

True. Refund is miarge.

[Sadanand Bulbule]

Refund is mirage. Typo error in earlier post.

[Sadanand Bulbule]

Dear Sir ji

Much obliged for your acknowledgment.

[KASTURI SETHI]

Dear Sir,

In continuation of my reply at serial no.1.2, please read, "the problem can be solved without consulting other experts" instead of "consulting the experts".

[Shilpi Jain]

Can't a B2B credit note be issued?

[Rajat Gupta]

No. Since GSTIN of the buyer is cancelled from a date prior to issuance of invoice, neither amendment not CN can be filed.

[Shilpi Jain]

Issue a b2c credit note and note down the reason for non-permitting of B2B credit note.

In GSTR-1 there will be a negative figure reported and GSTR-3B will give the net liability.

AI Summary

Cancelled-recipient GSTIN invoicing requires credit-note correction, re-invoicing, or administrative tax adjustment where portal validation blocks amendments.
Cancelled recipient GSTIN details may prevent portal-based amendment of an invoice and reporting of a B2B credit note, even where the supply is intra-State B2B. Suggested approaches include a B2C credit note with reasons recorded for portal rejection, resulting in negative GSTR-1 reporting and net GSTR-3B liability. Alternatively, a manual credit note and fresh invoice to the correct GSTIN may be issued, followed by written intervention for tax adjustment. Refund may be considered if adjustment is unavailable.