How to Download and use IMS Offline Tool on GST portal

Advisory for IMS Offline Tool on GST Portal
The Invoice Management System (IMS) was introduced on the GST portal effective from the October 2024 tax period. The system enables recipient taxpayers to take actions on invoices uploaded by their suppliers through GSTR-1, GSTR-1A, or IFF, including accepting, rejecting, or keeping such records pending.
With a view to further enhancing taxpayer convenience and facilitating ease of compliance, the IMS Offline Tool is Excel based offline tool which has been now made available on GST Portal. This offline utility enables taxpayers to undertake actions on both individual as well as bulk invoices in an efficient manner.

Video on How to Download and use IMS Offline Tool on GST portal

Step by Step Guide on How to Download and use IMS Offline Tool on GST portal

1. Steps to use the IMS offline tool:
a) Download the Tool:
• Visit GST Portal: www.gst.gov.in
• Navigate to Downloads -> Offline Tools -> IMS Offline Tool to download the tool.

• The tool will be downloaded as a zip file. Extract the zip file, enable the macros through the file
properties and open the Excel utility.

b) Download IMS Data from Portal:
• To download data from GST Portal, navigate to Services -> Returns -> Invoice Management
System (IMS) Dashboard -> Offline

Click on Download Json. Save the Json file on your system.

2. Import download Json File and Validate Sheet:
• Click on Open Downloaded IMS Json File in Home sheet.

Select the downloaded file from the online portal to auto-populate invoice data.
• Perform the following actions:
-Accept/Reject/Pending/No Action
-Add remarks (if applicable)
• Click on Validate Sheet button

3. Generate and Upload Json on GST Portal:
• Click on Generate Json File to Upload to create the Json.

• To upload the Json, login to GST Portal.
• Navigate to: Services -> Returns -> Invoice Management System (IMS) Dashboard -> Offline.
• Click on Upload Json to upload the generated file

Some important points/validations related to using offline tools are:
• The IMS offline tool follows the same validations and business rules as applicable on the IMS
dashboard portal, including treatment of accepted, rejected, pending, and no-action records.
• If no changes are made on the records after importing the JSON file into the offline tool, the
generated JSON file will be empty.
• The tool provides filter options to filter the invoices based on relevant parameters. Filters are
cleared while performing the ‘Validate Sheet’ action.
• Click on `Validate Sheet` button, to validate data in each worksheet in offline tool, after all the
actions required are taken in the sheet.
• In case of validation failure of details on uploading JSON file, an error file will be generated with
status as `Processed with Error`. This file can be downloaded, open in offline tool, take
relevant actions to remove the highlighted errors and can be uploaded by creating a JSON file
again.

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