Section16
The Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017

Eligibility and conditions for taking input tax credit

In force Act 12 of 2017 As on 15 Oct 2026

Act 12 of 2017 Ministry Finance Enacted 12 Apr 2017 Cited by 6 provisions Instruments 37

Commencement. 22nd June, 2017 for sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 139, 146 and 164 1st July, 2017 for sections 6 to 9, 11 to 21, 31 to 41, 42 (except proviso to sub-section (9) of S 42), 43 (except proviso to subsection (9) of S 43), 44 to 50, 53 to 138, 140 to 163, 165 to 174.

Section 16 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 deals with eligibility and conditions for taking input tax credit. Every registered person shall, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed and in the manner specified in section 49, be entitled to take credit of input tax charged on any supply of goods or services or both to him which are used or intended to be used in the course or furthera The Act was enacted on 12 Apr 2017.

(1) Every registered person shall, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed and in the manner specified in section 49, be entitled to take credit of input tax charged on any supply of goods or services or both to him which are used or intended to be used in the course or furtherance of his business and the said amount shall be credited to the electronic credit ledger of such person.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, no registered person shall be entitled to the credit of any input tax in respect of any supply of goods or services or both to him unless,---

(a) he is in possession of a tax invoice or debit note issued by a supplier registered under this Act, or such other tax paying documents as may be prescribed;

1[(aa) the details of the invoice or debit note referred to in clause (a) has been furnished by the supplier in the statement of outward supplies and such details have been communicated to the recipient of such invoice or debit note in the manner specified under section 37.]

(b) he has received the goods or services or both.

2[Explanation--For the purposes of this clause, it shall be deemed that the registered person has received the goods or, as the case may be, services --

(i) where the goods are delivered by the supplier to a recipient or any other person on the direction of such registered person, whether acting as an agent or otherwise, before or during movement of goods, either by way of transfer of documents of title to goods or otherwise;

(ii) where the services are provided by the supplier to any person on the direction of and on account of such registered person.];

3[(ba) the details of input tax credit in respect of the said supply communicated to such registered person under Section 38 has not been restricted;]

(c) subject to the provisions of 4[section 41 5***], the tax charged in respect of such supply has been actually paid to the Government, either in cash or through utilisation of input tax credit admissible in respect of the said supply; and

(d) he has furnished the return under section 39:

Provided that where the goods against an invoice are received in lots or instalments, the registered person shall be entitled to take credit upon receipt of the last lot or instalment:

Provided further that where a recipient fails to pay to the supplier of goods or services or both, other than the supplies on which tax is payable on reverse charge basis, the amount towards the value of supply along with tax payable thereon within a period of one hundred and eighty days from the date of issue of invoice by the supplier, an amount equal to the input tax credit availed by the recipient shall be 6[paid by him along with interest payable under section 50], in such manner as may be prescribed::

Provided also that the recipient shall be entitled to avail of the credit of input tax on payment made by him 7[to the supplier] of the amount towards the value of supply of goods or services or both along with tax payable thereon.

(3) Where the registered person has claimed depreciation on the tax component of the cost of capital goods and plant and machinery under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961(43 of 1961), the input tax credit on the said tax component shall not be allowed.

(4) A registered person shall not be entitled to take input tax credit in respect of any invoice or debit note for supply of goods or services or both after the 8[thirtieth day of November] following the end of financial year to which such invoice or 9*** debit note pertains or furnishing of the relevant annual return, whichever is earlier.

10[Provided that the registered person shall be entitled to take input tax credit after the due date of furnishing of the return under section 39 for the month of September, 2018 till the due date of furnishing of the return under the said section for the month of March, 2019 in respect of any invoice or invoice relating to such debit note for supply of goods or services or both made during the financial year 2017-18, the details of which have been uploaded by the supplier under sub-section (1) of section 37 till the due date for furnishing the details under sub-section (1) of said section for the month of March, 2019.]

11[(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (4), in respect of an invoice or debit note for supply of goods or services or both pertaining to the Financial Years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21, the registered person shall be entitled to take input tax credit in any return under section 39 which is filed up to the thirtieth day of November, 2021.

(6) Where registration of a registered person is cancelled under section 29 and subsequently the cancellation of registration is revoked by any order, either under section 30 or pursuant to any order made by the Appellate Authority or the Appellate Tribunal or court and where availment of input tax credit in respect of an invoice or debit note was not restricted under sub-section (4) on the date of order of cancellation of registration, the said person shall be entitled to take the input tax credit in respect of such invoice or debit note for supply of goods or services or both, in a return under section 39,---

(i) filed up to thirtieth day of November following the financial year to which such invoice or debit note pertains or furnishing of the relevant annual return, whichever is earlier; or

(ii) for the period from the date of cancellation of registration or the effective date of cancellation of registration, as the case may be, till the date of order of revocation of cancellation of registration, where such return is filed within thirty days from the date of order of revocation of cancellation of registration,

whichever is later.]

Section 16, The Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (Act 12 of 2017).

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

Related judgements & precedents

These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.

  1. Union of India through Its Secretary vs Bharti Airtel LTD

    Supreme Court of India 28 Oct 2021 Binding (SC) Reportable

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    A registered person's primary obligation under the CGST Act, 2017 is to self-assess taxes and input tax credit based on books of accounts and records maintained by him as per statutory requirements, not on auto-generated information from the common electronic portal. The common portal is merely a facilitator. Consequently, non-operability of electronic forms does not excuse a registered person from this self-assessment obligation. Section 39(9) of the CGST Act, 2017 expressly provides that rectification of omission or incorrect particulars in returns can be effected only in the return to be furnished for the month or quarter during which such omission or incorrect particulars are noticed, not in the return for the period to which the error relates. This provision applies with full vigor to Form GSTR3B returns. Therefore, Circular No. 26/26/2017GST dated 29.12.2017 restricting rectification of Form GSTR3B to subsequent months is consistent with the statutory framework and cannot be read down. A registered person cannot unilaterally rectify returns for the relevant period as this would have cascading effects on other stakeholders and create uncertainty in tax administration.

    On this section: Eligibility of registered person to take credit of input tax; establishes statutory right to ITC subject to conditions

    Read the full order on eCourts India

  2. Himalaya Communication Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India

    High Court 06 Jun 2025 Binding (High Court) CWP 8809/2025; Final Order 06.06.2025 (Tarlok Singh Chauhan & Sushil Kukreja JJ., HP HC DB)

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    DATE VERIFIED Final Order 2025-06-06 (order-2.pdf): ITC denial under CGST s.16(2) solely because the supplier’s registration was cancelled retrospectively, without examining genuineness of the transaction / supporting documents, is unsustainable; impugned orders quashed and matter remanded for document-based adjudication.

    On this section: s.16(2) — eligibility/conditions for ITC require genuineness inquiry; retrospective supplier cancellation alone is not enough to deny credit without examining documents.

    Read the full order on eCourts India

The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.

Judgments citing this section

These may be obiter dicta or a precedent, for you to study. These are the judgments where this section is quoted.

  1. High Court 03 Nov 2023 KLHC010789512023

    … As common questions of law and facts are involved in the above writ appeals, we dispose of the same together by a common judgment. 2. The issue involved is with respect to the entitlement of the purchasing dealer to take credit of input tax levied on the goods he purchased from the supplying dealer under section 16 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act (for short, 'the CGST Act'). Incidentally, the provisions of Section 16(2)(c) of the CGST Act and Rule 36(4) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules (for short, 'the CGST Rules') are challenged as unconstitutional. 3. The appellant in WA No. 1853/2023 is the …

    Read this order on eCourtsIndia

  2. High Court 03 Nov 2023 KLHC010791182023

    … As common questions of law and facts are involved in the above writ appeals, we dispose of the same together by a common judgment. 2. The issue involved is with respect to the entitlement of the purchasing dealer to take credit of input tax levied on the goods he purchased from the supplying dealer under section 16 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act (for short, 'the CGST Act'). Incidentally, the provisions of Section 16(2)(c) of the CGST Act and Rule 36(4) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules (for short, 'the CGST Rules') are challenged as unconstitutional. 3. The appellant in WA No. 1853/2023 is the …

    Read this order on eCourtsIndia

Made under this section, and citing it

13 instruments state that it was made under this provision — the power to make it comes from here, so a change to any of them changes what this section requires in practice. Newest first.

Another 24 instruments name this provision in its title or its text without being made under it.

All subordinate legislation

Questions about Section 16

What have the courts held on Section 16 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act?

Union of India through Its Secretary vs Bharti Airtel LTD (28 Oct 2021) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Eligibility of registered person to take credit of input tax; establishes statutory right to ITC subject to conditions. Another 1 judgment on this section is set out below, 1 of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2021 to 2025.

How do I find court cases under Section 16 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act?

In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: CGST Act 16, section 16 CGST Act, section 16 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 2 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Union of India through Its Secretary vs Bharti Airtel LTD (28 Oct 2021).

What should I read with Section 16 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, and has it changed?

Its own text turns on section 29 (Cancellation or suspension of registration), section 30 (Revocation of cancellation of registration), section 37 (Furnishing details of outward supplies), section 38 (Communication of details of inward supplies and input tax credit), and on 4 further provisions, so none of them can safely be read on its own. 6 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. The rules and notifications made under it are where it actually bites, and there are 13: most recently Notification No. 02/2019-Central Tax (Rate) dated 07.03.2019 (2019), then Notification No. 03/2019- Central Tax (Rate) dated 29.03.2019 (2019), and 11 more.

When was Section 16 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act enacted?

Section 16 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, commonly called itc or input tax credit, and cited as CGST Act 16, was enacted on 12 Apr 2017 as Act 12 of 2017. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.

Other sections of this Act

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 15 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.