BRIEF ON FILING GSTR 2 AND GSTR 2(A)

As you already know, returns filed through Form GSTR-3B is just an interim return and the regular returns in GSTR-1, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 are required to be filed by the businesses. Now we will discuss:
•              What is GSTR-2A?
•             What is GSTR-2?
•             What is the relevance of GSTR-2A with GSTR-2?
What is GSTR-2A?
GSTR-2A is an auto-populated statement in which the visibility of all the inward supplies reported by your supplier in GSTR-1, is made available to the recipient. The details will be made available on submission of the return in the Portal. Apart from the details of GSTR-1, the details from GSTR-5 (Supplies from Non-resident Taxable person), GSTR-6 (ISD), GSTR-7 (TDS Deductor) and GSTR-8 (TCS collected by e-commerce operator) will also be auto-populated.
You can either directly view the details in the GST Portal or download the GSTR-2A file and view it in the offline utility tool. Invoices / records up to 500 can be viewed online for a table / section in Form GSTR-2A. In case, if invoices are more than 500, you have to generate the GSTR-2A file and use the offline utility tool available on the portal for viewing the invoice details.
To download the GSTR-2A file, login to the GST Portal > Services > Return > Prepare Offline > Download Tab > Generate File and view it in the Offline Tool. This download feature will be made available shortly.
What is GSTR-2?
The Form GSTR-2 is a statement in which a regular dealer needs to capture all the inward supplies made during the month. Broadly, all the inward supplies from registered businesses (B2B), including the supplies on which tax needs to be paid on reverse charge are required to be captured at the invoice level. In addition to inward supplies, you also need to declare the details of advances paid on supplies liable for reverse charge, and the advance amount on which tax was paid in the earlier return period but the invoice has been received in the current reporting period. The last date to submit the GSTR-2 for the month of July 2017 is 31st October 2017.
Based on the details submitted in GSTR-2, the eligible ITC will be determined and accordingly it will be credited to your e-credit ledger on a provisional basis.
What is the relevance of GSTR-2A with GSTR-2?
Unlike Form GSTR-1, which requires businesses to upload all the details of outward supplies, GSTR-2 does not require you to declare all the details of inward supplies. Most of the details in GSTR-2 is auto-populated, based on the outward supplies declared by your suppliers in their returns. The auto-populated details of inward supplies made available in GSTR-2A, will be available in GSTR-2 also. In other words, GSTR-2A will be an exact replica of GSTR-2 containing only the details declared by your suppliers in GSTR-1.
Therefore, you need not upload all the details of inward supplies, instead you need to reconcile the details of inward supplies available in GSTR-2A, with your books of accounts and accordingly figure out the additions, modifications and deletion of invoices made available in GSTR-2A.
The form GSTR-2A is not required to be filed, it is just a read-only document which provides the facility to view all the invoices uploaded by your suppliers. Therefore, any action on the details of inward supplies available in GSTR-2A, needs to be performed in GSTR-2.
This is the most critical phase of filing of your return, as any omission or correction not actioned as per the statement in Form GSTR-2A with your inward supplies register, will impact your input tax credit eligibility.