ChatGPT
ClaudeA GST notice on a client's ITC claim or a mismatch in GSTR-3B can land on any day, and the reply is due within a fixed period. Most of the time goes to reading the notice, pulling the same reconciliation from three places and typing the same paragraphs again. ChatGPT or Claude can take over the reading and the first draft, so your team spends its time checking facts. This guide is for a CA firm in Mumbai, Pune or Ahmedabad that handles GST notices for small and mid-sized clients. The CA stays responsible for every reply that goes out.
What you need
- The notice PDF (ASMT-10, DRC-01 or a show cause notice) and the order, if one has already been passed.
- GSTR-1, GSTR-3B and GSTR-2B for the periods named in the notice, exported as Excel.
- The client's purchase register and ITC ledger.
- Two or three replies your firm filed earlier that were accepted, with client names and GSTINs removed.
- A ChatGPT or Claude account that the firm has approved for client work.
Step 1: Set up a Project for each notice type
Create a Project in ChatGPT or Claude called something like "GST notices, ASMT-10". Both products let you add files and project-level instructions, so every chat in that Project starts with your firm's style. Upload your earlier replies with the names removed, and add a note on the format your partner prefers.
You help a chartered accountant firm in India draft replies to GST notices. Use the uploaded replies as the style and structure reference. Use only the facts in the notice and the documents the user gives you. If a figure, date or section is not in those documents, write [NOT FOUND] instead of guessing. Write in formal English. Never cite a case law or circular from memory. Mark any such reference as [VERIFY].
Step 2: Summarise the notice
Upload the notice and ask for a plain summary. This takes a minute, and it tells you at once whether the department is claiming tax, interest, penalty or all three.
Read the attached notice. List the notice reference number and date, the GSTIN and tax period, the reply due date, every allegation as a numbered point, and the amounts claimed as tax, interest and penalty shown separately. List any document the department asks for. Do not interpret the law yet. Keep the list to what the notice says.
Check the due date against the notice yourself and write it into the client file. A missed date costs more than any other mistake in this work.
Step 3: Match each allegation to a record
This step saves the most time, and it is where errors creep in, so keep the CA close to it. Give the model the allegations and the reconciliation files together.
Here are the numbered allegations from the notice, followed by the GSTR-2B, GSTR-3B and purchase register for [period]. For each allegation, tell me which figure in the records it relates to, the amount that matches or differs, the invoice numbers involved, and whether the difference looks like timing, a supplier not filing, or a real mismatch. Show the arithmetic for each one. If a number cannot be found, say so.
Open the spreadsheet yourself for every row the model flags. Treat each match as a lead to check, not as a finding.
Step 4: Draft the point-wise reply
Once the CA agrees with the matching, ask for the draft.
Using the summary and the matching table below, draft a point-wise reply to the notice. For each allegation, give the department's point in one line, the client's position in two or three sentences, the supporting document by its file name, and the relief sought. End with a request for a personal hearing if the notice allows one, and a prayer. Put [CA TO ADD] wherever a legal argument is needed.
Paste the matching table after the instruction. The draft will be rough in places, and that is fine. Its job is to give the CA a structure to complete.
Step 5: Check every legal reference
Ask for a list of every section, rule, notification and circular the draft depends on, with the reason each one is cited. Then open the official CBIC text for each item and confirm the wording. AI tools can name the wrong section or miss an amendment, and a reply that cites a provision saying something different is hard to repair later.
List every section number, rule, notification and circular cited in the draft above. For each one, write a one-line description of what it says, and state how confident you are that the reference is correct: high, medium or low. Do not add new citations.
Step 6: CA review and filing
The CA reads the reply line by line against the records, edits the legal argument and signs. Filing happens on the GST portal in the usual way, by the CA or the client's authorised person. The AI never files anything, and nobody should paste portal login details into a chat.
Tips
- Keep one Project per notice type. A DRC-01 demand needs different wording from an ASMT-10 discrepancy reply.
- Ask for arithmetic in a table, not only the answer. Wrong totals are easier to spot in a table than in prose.
- The ICAI publishes GST reply prompts on its AI prompt library, which are a useful starting point for your own project instructions.
- Keep the signed final reply as the firm's record. The chat is a working draft, not a file.
- Bill the client for the CA's review time. The tool saves drafting time, not professional responsibility.
Keep it safe
Remove client names, GSTINs, PAN numbers and bank details from anything you upload to a personal account. Use the firm's approved business account, and check its data settings before the first client file goes in. A notice is confidential, so keep these chats private to the people working on that client.
Sources
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