I spent a full weekend last year helping a friend set up her freelance design business. We had the logo, the contracts, the pricing—all sorted. Then we hit the accounting piece. She downloaded three different free accounting tools, got confused by all three, and ended up tracking invoices in a Google Sheet. That sheet became…
What are the key income tax changes from April 1, 2026? From April 1, 2026, the new tax regime under Section 115BAC becomes the default. A unified “Tax Year” replaces the old FY/AY system, the standard deduction is ₹75,000 under the new regime, and new labour codes mandate that basic pay must be at least…
What are the essential compliance tasks before the financial year-end in India? Before FY 2025-26 ends on March 31, 2026, Indian businesses must reconcile all GST returns (GSTR-1, 3B, 2B), verify and claim eligible Input Tax Credit (ITC), clear final advance tax instalments, reconcile bank statements, and ensure all MSME vendors are paid within 45…
What is GSTR-2A? GSTR-2A is a dynamic, auto-generated read-only statement on the GST portal that displays all purchase invoices uploaded by your suppliers in real-time. While it helps businesses track and verify Input Tax Credit (ITC) eligibility throughout the month, it is not used for final ITC claims in 2026—that formal role belongs to the…
Quick Answer: What is GSTR-2B? GSTR-2B is a static, monthly auto-generated statement on the GST portal that determines a business’s eligible Input Tax Credit (ITC). Generated on the 14th of every month, it pulls data directly from your suppliers’ GSTR-1 filings. In 2026, GSTR-2B is the absolute source of truth for ITC claims; claiming credit…
Quick Answer: The primary difference between GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B is their purpose and sequence. GSTR-1 is a detailed, invoice-level report of your sales (outward supplies) that must be filed first so your buyers can claim Input Tax Credit. GSTR-3B is a consolidated summary return filed afterward, used to declare your final tax liability, claim your…
It’s March 18. You’re staring at your profit and loss statement, and the number at the bottom is higher than you expected. Good problem to have—except now you owe more tax than you budgeted for, and the financial year closes in less than two weeks. I’ve seen this play out hundreds of times. A small…
Last month, I spent an entire afternoon untangling a client’s TDS compliance mess — misclassified cash withdrawals, an expired lower deduction certificate, and zero documentation trail. The kicker? Every single issue traced back to rule changes the client simply hadn’t tracked. That experience is exactly why I’m writing this. Starting 1 April 2026, India’s income…
Last quarter, a retail client walked into my office with a stack of GST notices — three demand letters, two ITC disallowances, and a registration suspension warning. His business was doing well. Sales were growing. But his GST compliance was a mess, and it had been silently compounding for months. He’s not alone. Most small…
Under GST, output tax is the tax you collect on sales, while input tax credit is the tax you can claim on purchases to reduce your final tax liability. The difference between the two determines how much GST you actually pay the government. In simple terms, understanding the difference between input tax credit and output…