Last Date to Claim ITC for FY 2025-26: November 30, 2026

Every year a block of input tax credit lapses for no better reason than that nobody claimed it in time. For purchases made in FY 2025-26, that deadline is close. This post gives the rule, the last return that works for each type of filer, and a short reconciliation routine to run before the date.

The Rule in One Line

Under Section 16(4) of the CGST Act, a registered person cannot take input tax credit on an invoice or debit note after the 30th of November following the end of the financial year to which it relates, or after furnishing the annual return for that year, whichever is earlier. For FY 2025-26, that means November 30, 2026.

The November 30 date has applied since October 1, 2022. Before that, the limit was tied to the due date of the September return, and some guides still quote the old rule.

The Last Return That Works

Credit is taken through GSTR-3B, so the question in practice is which return you can still file by November 30.

A return for one of these periods filed late, but on or before November 30, 2026, still carries the credit; it will attract late fee and interest in the usual way. A return for November 2026, or for the October to December quarter, is filed after the cut-off and cannot be used for FY 2025-26 credit. QRMP taxpayers therefore have much less time than monthly filers and should treat October as their real deadline.

Filing GSTR-9 Early Closes the Window

The limit is the earlier of November 30 and the date the annual return is furnished. A business that files GSTR-9 for FY 2025-26 in, say, October 2026 has closed its ITC window for that year on that day. Finish the purchase reconciliation first and file the annual return after it. The annual return itself is covered in our GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C guide.

What Else Shares the November 30 Cut-Off

• Credit notes: a supplier must declare credit notes for FY 2025-26 supplies by the same date to reduce output tax (Section 34).
• GSTR-1 corrections: errors or omissions in FY 2025-26 outward supply details can be rectified only up to this date (Section 37).
• GSTR-3B corrections: the same limit applies to rectifying a FY 2025-26 error through a later return (Section 39).

This matters to buyers as well as sellers. If your supplier left your invoice out of GSTR-1 and does not correct it in time, the credit will not appear in your GSTR-2B and you cannot take it. Chase missing invoices now, while the supplier can still amend. Our GSTR-1 vs GSTR-3B guide explains how the two returns connect.

What the Deadline Does Not Do

Meeting the date does not make a credit eligible. The usual conditions still apply: a valid tax invoice or debit note, receipt of the goods or services, the supplier having reported the invoice so that it reflects in your GSTR-2B, and the credit not being blocked. These are set out in our input tax credit guide.

Two points often cause confusion:

• Debit notes follow their own year. The time limit runs from the financial year of the debit note, not of the original invoice.
• Re-availing reversed credit is separate. Credit reversed because the supplier was not paid within 180 days can be taken again once payment is made, and that re-availment is not subject to the Section 16(4) limit.

A Reconciliation Routine Before the Date

1. Download GSTR-2B for every month of FY 2025-26 and for April to October 2026.
2. Match it against your purchase register for FY 2025-26 and list invoices that are in your books but not in GSTR-2B.
3. Ask each supplier on that list to report or amend the invoice in their next GSTR-1.
4. List invoices that are in GSTR-2B but were never claimed, check eligibility, and claim them in the next GSTR-3B.
5. Review credit notes you have issued for FY 2025-26 supplies and make sure each is reported.
6. File GSTR-9 only after the steps above are complete.

The 57th GST Council, which met on October 8, 2026, recommended aligning certain return deadlines with the ITC time limits and introducing a return correction mechanism from April 2027. Neither changes the November 30, 2026 date. See our summary of the 57th GST Council recommendations.