Understanding GST Registration – Scope and Nature for Businesses & Individuals
- Blog|GST & Customs|
- 21 Min Read
- By Taxmann
- |
- Last Updated on 1 April, 2024
GST Registration is the process by which a business or entity registers under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law. When a business becomes registered under GST, it is legally recognized as a supplier of goods or services. The registration under GST implies that the business is authorized to collect GST from customers and claim input tax credit (ITC) on purchases.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Scope and Nature of Registration under GST
- Who should Register
- State/Union Territory-wise Threshold Limits under GST for Registration/Exemption w.e.f. 1-4-2019
- Computation of Turnover to Determine Threshold
- Compulsory Registration Irrespective of Threshold
- Time Limit and Procedure to Apply for Registration
- Voluntary Registration
- Distinct Persons
- Permanent Account Number/Tax Deduction Account Number
- Authentication
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1. Introduction
GST law provides for threshold exemption from registration based on turnover i.e., where turnover of a person is below the threshold, he may undertake supplies without registering himself with the authorities. This is also referred as small-scale exemption and it helps to reduce compliance burden of smaller entities. There is no bar on a person making taxable supplies registering himself even when his turnover has not exceeded the threshold limit but when the threshold is exceeded, it becomes mandatory.
Statutory provisions regarding GST registration are contained in Sections 22 to 30 of Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act) and respective State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (SGST Act) Rule 8 to Rule 26 of Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (CGST Rules) are the procedural provisions on this subject. Registration and related processes under GST being mostly an online process, various forms/formats numbering 30 have been prescribed under CGST Rules relating to registration. All applications are to be filed electronically with digital signature certificate or through e-signature as specified under the Information Technology Act, 2000 or verified through Aadhaar based Electronic Verification Code (EVC) or through any other mode of signature or verification notified by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC).
2. Scope and Nature of Registration under GST
GST registration is PAN based and State specific. A supplier has to register in each of such State or Union territory from where he effects supply. In GST registration, the supplier is allotted a 15-digit GST Identification Number called “GSTIN”. He is also given a registration certificate incorporating therein this GSTIN. The first 2 digits of the GSTIN is the State code, next 10 digits are the PAN of the legal entity, the next two digits are for entity code, and the last digit is check sum number.
GST Registration is not tax specific, which means that there is a single registration for all the taxes i.e., CGST, SGST/UTGST, IGST and Cesses. A given PAN based legal entity would have one GSTIN per State which means a business entity having its branches in multiple States will have to take separate State wise registration for the branches in different States. But within a State, an entity with different branches would have single registration wherein it can declare one place as principal place of business and other branches as additional place of business. As per Section 25 of CGST Act (as amended), a person having multiple places of business in a State or Union territory can be granted a separate registration for each such place of business, subject to conditions prescribed under Rule 11 of CGST Rules, 2017. One of the main conditions prescribed is that such dealers would not be entitled to Composition Levy Scheme. Further, SEZ unit or developer has to apply for a separate registration, as distinct from his place of business located outside the Special Economic Zone in the same State or Union territory.
3. Who should Register
A person making a taxable supply of goods or services or both shall register himself with the respective authority in the State or Union Territory from where he makes taxable supply if the aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds INR 20 lakhs as per Section 22. The words “taxable supply” and “from where he makes” the supply, are important. That is, from the wordings of the section it is clear that person engaged in making non-taxable supply say petrol is not liable for registration under GST law. The threshold applies to person which is defined in a wide manner to include individual, firm, LLP, company and so on. Threshold does not differ based on constitution of the person. The words “from where he makes the supply” indicates the requirement of registration in those States from where taxable supplies (generally sale of goods or provision of services) are made.
3.1 Persons liable for registration
Every supplier whose aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds INR 20 lakh is required to be registered in the State or Union territory, other than special category States, from where he makes a taxable supply of goods or services or both. In special category states this limit is INR 10 lakh. Further, all persons who were registered under existing laws, were also required to initially migrate for provisional GSTIN and then take regular registration under the new law if liable for registration. A transferee or the successors in business are also liable to be registered. It has been clarified that the expression “aggregate turnover” shall include all supplies made by the taxable person, whether on his own account or made on behalf of all his principals. However, value of the supply of goods by a registered job worker, shall not be included in the aggregate turnover of the registered job worker but it shall be included in the aggregate value of principal.
Special Category States are the States as specified in sub-clause (g) of clause (4) of Article 279A of the Constitution (except States of Jammu & Kashmir and subsequently w.e.f. 1-2-2019, States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand also). Further even for balance special category States, Central Government on recommendation of GST Council can extend this limit of INR 10 lakhs to a maximum of INR 20 lakh. GST Council in its meeting on 10-1-2019 had recommended that there would be two threshold limits for exemption from registration and payment of GST for the suppliers of goods i.e., INR 40 lakhs and INR 20 lakhs. States were given option to decide on one of the limits. The threshold for registration for service providers would continue to be INR 20 lakhs and in case of Special Category States at INR 10 lakhs. Consequent to this decision, Government had issued Notification No. 10/2019-C.T., dated 7-3-2019 where under w.e.f. 1-4-2019, threshold limit for dealers exclusively engaged in intra-State supply of goods has been increased to INR 40 lakhs across all States and Union Territories except in 10 States, namely, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura and Uttarakhand. Out of these 10 States, only four States, namely, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura are Special Category States in terms of amended proviso to Section 22 of CGST Act which would retain threshold limit of INR 10 lakhs while other six States would have this limit at INR 20 lakhs.
4. State/Union Territory-wise Threshold Limits under GST for Registration/Exemption w.e.f. 1-4-2019
(i) States other than Special Category States as defined in amended Section 22 of CGST Act, 2017
S. No. | Name of State | Threshold limit exclusively for goods |
Threshold limit for services/mixed supplies |
1. | Andhra Pradesh | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
2. | Arunachal Pradesh | 20 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
3. | Assam | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
4. | Bihar | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
5. | Chhattisgarh | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
6. | Goa | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
7. | Gujarat | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
8. | Haryana | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
9. | Himachal Pradesh | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
10. | Jammu and Kashmir | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
11. | Jharkhand | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
12. | Karnataka | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
13. | Kerala | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
14. | Madhya Pradesh | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
15. | Maharashtra | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
16. | Meghalaya | 20 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
17. | Odisha | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
18. | Punjab | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
19. | Rajasthan | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
20. | Sikkim | 20 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
21. | Tamil Nadu | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
22. | Telangana | 20 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
23. | Uttar Pradesh | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
24. | Uttarakhand | 20 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
25. | West Bengal | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
(ii) Special Category States in terms of Amended Section 22 of CGST Act
S. No. | Name of State | Threshold limit exclusively for goods |
Threshold limit for services/mixed supplies |
1. | Manipur | 10 lakhs | 10 lakhs |
2. | Mizoram | 10 lakhs | 10 lakhs |
3. | Nagaland | 10 lakhs | 10 lakhs |
4. | Tripura | 10 lakhs | 10 lakhs |
(iii) Union Territories
S. No. | Name of Union Territory | Threshold limit exclusively goods |
Threshold limit for services/mixed supplies |
1. | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
2. | Chandigarh | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
3. | Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
4. | Daman and Diu | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
5. | Delhi | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
6. | Lakshadweep | 40 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
7. | Puducherry | 20 lakhs | 20 lakhs |
Notes:
@Goods would not include Ice cream and other edible ice whether or not containing Cocoa, Pan Masala, Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes.
The extended limit of INR 40 lakhs would not be applicable to persons engaged in supply of Ice Cream and other edible ice, whether or not containing Cocoa, Pan Masala, Aerated Water (w.e.f. 1-10-2019), Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes and brick kilns (w.e.f. 1-4-2022) supplying fly ash bricks/blocks, building bricks, bricks of fossil meals or similar siliceous earth and earthen or roofing tiles (for such supplies the limit is INR 20 lakhs). It would also not be applicable to persons requiring compulsory registration under section 24 of CGST Act and persons taking voluntary registration.
4.1 Persons not liable for registration
Any person engaged exclusively in the business of supplying goods or services or both that are not liable to tax or wholly exempt from tax under GST law is not required to take registration. Similarly, an agriculturist is also exempt from registration to the extent of supply of produce out of cultivation of land. An agriculturist has been defined to mean any individual or HUF who undertakes cultivation of land either by own labour or of the family or by engaged hired persons and wages may be paid in cash or kind. The person or his family will supervise hired labour. Goods at present not liable to GST are crude oil, petrol (motor spirit), diesel (high speed diesel), aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and natural gas and therefore, persons dealing with such goods alone are not required to take registration under GST law.
4.2 Exemption from registration to person engaged in exclusive supply of goods and whose aggregate turnover in the financial year does not exceed INR 40 Lakh
The Central Government by Notification No. 10/2019-C.T., dated 7-3-2019 and Notification No. 2/2019-U.T.T., dated 7-3-2019, has specified that, w.e.f. 1-4-2019, any person, who is engaged exclusively supply of goods and whose aggregate turnover in the financial year does not INR 40 lakh shall be exempt from obtaining registration, except:
- Persons required to take compulsory registration under section 24 of CGST Act;
- Persons engaged in making supplies of Ice cream and other edible ice, whether or not containing cocoa, Pan masala, Aerated Water (w.e.f. 1-10-2019) and Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes; [Treating ice-cream at par with Pan Masala and Tobacco products is not violative of Article 14 of Constitution. — Per Allahabad High Court reported in [2020] (32) G.S.T.L. 338/[2020] 115 taxmann.com 57/80 GST 350 (All)].
- Persons engaged in making intra-State supplies in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura and Uttarakhand; and
- Persons voluntarily obtaining registration under section 25(3) or such registered persons who intend to continue with their registration under the CGST Act.
4.3 Handicraft goods suppliers
Persons making inter-State taxable supplies of handicraft goods as defined in the “Explanation” in Notification No. 21/2018-Central Tax (Rate), dated 26-7-2018 and persons making inter-State taxable supplies of the specified products when made by the craftsmen predominantly by hand even though some machinery may also be used in the process are the categories of casual taxable persons who have been exempted from registration requirement. This is subject to the conditions that the aggregate value of such supplies does not exceed the threshold limit i.e. the aggregate turnover is less than the specified limit. However, the persons making inter-State taxable supplies mentioned above shall be required to obtain PAN and generate e-way bill as per Rule 138 of CGST Rules as per Notification No. 3/2018-Integrated Tax dated 22-10-2018.
The Central Government has notified www.gst.gov.in as the Common Goods and Services Tax Electronic Portal for facilitating registration, payment of tax, furnishing of returns, computation and settlement of IGST and e-way bill.
4.4 Application, appeals and documents submitted electronically to be verified in 2 days – Aadhaar based EVC and Bank Account based OTP notified as mode of verification
The C.B.E. & C has notified Aadhaar based Electronic Verification Code (EVC); Electronic verification code generated through net banking login on the common portal and Electronic verification code generated on the common portal as modes of verification, for the purpose of the CGST Rules and has provided that the mode of authentication of any document through any of the aforesaid modes, such verification shall be done within two days of furnishing the documents. Once PAN, e-mail id and mobile number are verified, details relating to business will be required to be furnished. There is no need to submit any physical documents (unless a query is raised and documents were asked for) and all necessary documents can be scanned and uploaded. If there are no queries, registration will be granted online within 3 working days from submission of online application.
4.5 Exemption to job worker supplying inter-State services
Central Government vide Notification No. 7/2017-Integrated Tax, dated 14-9-2017 has exempted job workers engaged in making inter-State supply of services from taking registration. However, this exemption is not available to persons who opt for taking voluntary registration and also to suppliers of services in relation to goods covered under Sl. No. 5 of Annexure to Rule 138 of CGST Rules relating to e-way bill. These goods are jewellery, goldsmiths’ and silversmiths’ wares and other articles of Chapter 71.
5. Computation of Turnover to Determine Threshold
The liability to get registered arises on crossing the specified turnover. As per the Explanation, “aggregate turnover” will include all supplies made by a person whether on his own account or made on behalf of all his principals. A person engaged in supply of exempt services by way of deposits, loans and advances in consideration of interest shall be considered as engaged exclusively in supply of goods.
The term used is “all supplies” and hence if a person makes taxable as well as non-taxable supplies, the aggregate of both is to be reckoned for determining threshold for registration.
5.1 Specific exclusion
Supply of goods after completion of job work by registered job worker is not to be included to compute turnover since it is treated as turnover of the principal as per the Explanation to Section 22.
The value of supplies to be taken into account while computing the limit of INR 40 lakh/20 lakh/10 lakh is given in the following chart:
(a) | Value of all taxable supplies excluding the value of inward supplies |
(b) | Value of exempted supplies |
(c) | Value of export goods or services or both |
(d) | Value of inter-State supplies of persons having same Permanent Account Number to be computed on all India basis. |
As per Section 2(6) of the CGST Act, 2017 the following shall not be taken into consideration while computing the Annual Aggregate Turnover.
(a) | Taxes if any charged under the head CGST, SGST, IGST |
(b) | Value of inward supplies on which the tax is payable on reverse charge basis |
(c) | Value of inward supplies |
5.2 Computation of aggregate turnover if one unit with same PAN exists in Special State while another exists in non-Special State
In such a case as soon the aggregate turnover at all India level exceeds INR 10 Lakh, the taxpayer in the special state will be out of exemption limit, though his individual turnover in that State is below INR 10 Lakh or his total turnover across India is below INR 20 lakh/40 lakh. As soon as his turnover at all India level, including taxable supplies in Special State exceeds INR 20 lakh/40 lakh, he would have to start paying tax in non-Special State also.
5.3 Transition to GST
Persons registered under Central Excise Act, Finance Act, 1994 (Service tax) and VAT Act of respective State were required to register themselves under GST law w.e.f. the appointed date i.e., 1-7-2017.
5.4 Transfer of business
In cases where the business carried on by a person is transferred either on account of succession or as a going concern, the transferee or successor should register himself from the date of transfer. If the transfer is pursuant to an order of a High Court or Tribunal or otherwise then the transferee is liable to register himself with effect from the date on which certificate of incorporation is issued by the Registrar of Companies to give effect to the order of the Tribunal or High Court.
6. Compulsory Registration Irrespective of Threshold
While Section 22 prescribes a threshold, Section 24 provides for certain situations where registration is compulsory irrespective of threshold. In other words, the small- scale exemption is not available in such cases.
- Person making inter-State supply is liable to pay IGST and no small-scale exemption is available. Therefore, even if only one transaction is made, he has to register himself.
- As per Section 2(19) a causal taxable person is one who occasionally undertakes supply of goods, services or both in the course or furtherance of business and does not have a fixed place of business in the State or Union Territory where he engages in supply. Such casual taxable persons are required to register compulsorily. An example would be a person engaging in exhibition sum sale at a fair.
- Persons paying tax under reverse charge are deemed to be suppliers and have to undertake all compliances including payment of tax and hence registration is compulsory.
- An e-commerce operator is required in terms of Section 9(5) to pay tax on intra-State supply of services supplied through it if so specified by the government. Hence, such electronic commerce operators are liable to register themselves irrespective of threshold of transactions undertaken or supplied by them.
- Non-resident taxable person as per Section 2(17) means any person who occasionally undertakes supply of goods or services or both either as principal or agent but does not have a fixed place of business in India. Such non-resident taxable persons are liable to compulsory registration. Experts from foreign countries visiting India and providing advice or consultancy are covered under this category.
- Certain persons liable to deduct tax – Department or establishment of Central or State Government, local authority, governmental agencies and other notified persons are liable to deduct tax under section 51 at the rate of 1% when the contract value is more than INR 2.5 lakhs. This is referred as TDS under GST. Such persons are required to obtain registration for TDS purpose. The obligation to register under section 24 operates whether or not such recipient is registered otherwise registered under GST law.
- Any person making taxable supplies on behalf of another whether as agent or otherwise is required to obtain registration mandatorily.
- Input Service Distributor (ISD) is defined in Section 2(61) as office of the supplier of goods or services or both which receives tax invoices for inputs and other services and issues prescribed document for distributing credit of tax to a supplier of taxable services having the same PAN. That is typically a head office would be the ISD distributing credit of input services to a branch office and both of them being the same person would have the same PAN. Registration is compulsory for a person acting as ISD irrespective of whether he is registered or not.
- Any person supplying goods or services or both through e-commerce operator who is required to collect tax as per Section 52. This clause does not apply to those categories of supplies which have been notified under Section 9(5) where e-commerce operator is obliged to pay tax.
- Registration by e-commerce operator obliged to collect tax at source. As per Section 52 every e-commerce operator not being an agent is mandated to collect tax at the rate of 2% on supplies.
- Supply of online information and database access or retrieval services (OIDAR) to unregistered persons in India will require registration by the supplier of such service from outside India.
7. Time Limit and Procedure to Apply for Registration
Any person who is liable to register on crossing the threshold (under Section 22) or compulsorily register as per Section 24 should apply for registration within 30 days from the date on which he became liable for registration. A causal non-taxable person or a non-resident has to apply for registration at least 5 days prior to commencement of business. A person having a unit in SEZ or an SEZ developer will have to apply for a separate registration from his place of business located outside the SEZ within the same State of Union Territory.
A person making supply from territorial waters of India has to apply for registration from the State of Union Territory nearest to the baseline. A person shall be granted single registration in a State or Union Territory. However, a person can choose to have separate registration for each place of business.
8. Voluntary Registration
A person who is not mandatorily required to be registered under CGST Act can opt for voluntary registration and accordingly carry out all compliances and he will be treated as a person registered under the Act and all provisions will apply. Such requirement generally arises when the recipient/buyer needs tax invoice for availing input tax credit of the GST charged on the supply.
9. Distinct Persons
A person who has obtained or is required to obtain more than one registration in one or more State (s) or Union Territory (s) will be treated as a distinct person in respect of each registration. The concept of distinct person means they are treated as separate entities and transactions between them will be liable to GST. Also, as per Section 25(5) person who has obtained or is required to obtain registration in a State or Union Territory has an establishment in any State or Union Territory, such establishments shall be treated as establishments of distinct persons.
9.1 Application for registration
Persons who are liable to get registered (other than a non-resident taxable person, a person required to deduct tax at source, a person required to collect tax at source and a person supplying online information and data base access or retrieval services) is required to declare his Permanent Account Number (PAN), mobile number, e-mail address, State or Union territory in Part A of FORM GST REG-01 on the Common Portal. After due online verification of PAN, mobile number and e-mail address, a temporary reference number shall be generated and communicated to the applicant. Using this reference number, the applicant is required to electronically submit an application in Part B of FORM GST REG-01. This application has to be signed or verified through electronic verification code (EVC). The system will issue an acknowledgement in FORM GST REG-02. The registration has to be applied for within 30 days of becoming liable for registration. A casual taxable person or a non-resident taxable person is required to apply for registration at least five days prior to the commencement of business. Every person who makes a supply from the territorial waters of India shall obtain registration in the coastal State or Union Territory where the nearest point of the appropriate baseline is located. If a person has more than one business vertical within a State or a Union Territory, he has to apply for separate registration for each business vertical in FORM GST REG-01.
9.2 Indian company and its establishments located outside India are not distinct persons under CGST Act
A company incorporated in India and a body corporate incorporated by or under law of a country outside India (foreign company) are separate persons under CGST Act and thus, are separate legal entities. Therefore, supply of services by a subsidiary/sister concern/group concern of a foreign company which is incorporated in India to the establishments of the said foreign company located outside India cannot be considered as supply between mere establishments of distinct person under Explanation 1 of Section 8 of IGST Act, 2017. Similarly, supply of service by an Indian company to its related establishments outside India which are incorporated under the laws outside India will not be treated as supply between mere establishments of distinct person under said Explanation.— Circular No. 161/17/2021-GST dated 20-9-2021.
10. Permanent Account Number/Tax Deduction Account Number
In order to be eligible for registration every person should have a PAN issued under Income-tax Act, 1961. Persons who are required to register due to obligation to deduct tax under section 51 of the Act may provide the Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN) in lieu of PAN.
10.1 Registration of persons required to deduct tax at source or to collect tax at source
Such person has to apply for registration in FORM GST REG-07. Registration certificate would be as per FORM GST REG-06. When such person no longer remains liable to deduct tax at source or collect tax at source, proper officer may cancel the registration and communicate cancellation in FORM GST REG-08. Procedure for such a person applying for registration to deduct or collect tax at source, in a State or Union territory where he does not have a physical presence has been prescribed in the newly inserted sub-rule (IA) in Rule 12 of CGST Rules, 2017.
10.2 Verification of the application and approval
The proper officer (Superintendent of Central Tax appointed as proper officer vide Circular No. 1/1/2017, dated 26-6-2017) will examine the application and the accompanying documents and in case these are in order, grant the registration to the applicant within seven working days from the date of submission of application. However, in case of any deficiency, a notice in FORM GST REG-03 will be issued within seven working days from the date of submission of application. If the applicant fails to undergo Aadhaar authentication or if physical verification is considered as required, REG-03 can be issued within 30 days. The applicant shall furnish such clarification, information or documents electronically, in FORM GST REG-04, within seven working days from the date of receipt of such notice. If clarification is in order, registration shall be issued in seven days. If no response is received from assessee or clarification given is not satisfactory, application may be rejected in FORM GST REG-05.
11. Authentication
Section 6A requires every registered person to undergo authentication or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar Number and if it has not been assigned, he should furnish other viable means of identification. If a person fails to undergo authentication or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar Number, the registration number will be deemed to be invalid and the person will be treated as an unregistered person under CGST Act.
From 1-1-2020 vide Notification No. 1/2020-C.T. dated 1-1-2020 every individual and in case of persons other than individual, the Karta, Managing Director, Director, Whole Time Director, Partners (as specified), Member of Managing Committee of the Association, Board of Trustees, authorised representative, authorised signatory or such class of persons as specified should furnish Aadhaar Number or other viable means of identification. Thus, as per these Sections 6B and 6C, authentication is essential prior to registration.
The following procedure has been prescribed for aforesaid purpose under CGST Rules by amending Rules 8, 9 and 25 initially vide Notification 16/2020-C.T. w.e.f 1-4-2020 and then revised by Notification No. 62/2020-C.T. dated 20-8-2020. –
- With effect from 21st August, 2020, while submitting the application under sub-rule (4) of Rule 8 of CGST Rules applicant shall undergo authentication of Aadhaar number.
- The date of submission of the application in such cases shall be the date of authentication of the Aadhaar number, or fifteen days from the submission of the application in Part B of FORM GST REG-01 under sub-rule (4), whichever is earlier.
- Where applicant fails to undergo authentication of Aadhaar number as specified in sub-rule (4A) of rule 8 or does not opt for authentication of Aadhaar number, the registration shall be granted after physical verification (with the approval of specified Assistant Commissioner) of the place of business within 30 days in the manner provided under Rule 25.
- However, proper officer may, for reasons to be recorded in writing and with the approval of an officer not below the rank of specified Assistant Commissioner, in lieu of the physical verification of the place of business, carry out the verification of such documents as he may deem fit.
- Where applicant fails to undergo authentication of Aadhaar number as specified in sub-rule (4A) of Rule 8 or does not opt for authentication of Aadhaar number, the notice in FORM GST REG-03 may be issued not later than twenty one days from the date of submission of the application.
A non-resident taxable person may furnish other documents as may be prescribed.
Application in FORM GST REG-09 has to be submitted in the GST portal (www.gst.gov.in) along with self-attested copy of valid passport at least five days prior to the commencement of business. In the case of a business entity incorporated or established outside India, the application for registration has to be submitted along with its tax identification number or unique number on the basis of which the entity is identified by the Government of that country or its PAN, if available. The application has to be signed by authorized signatory of such person who shall be a person resident in India having a valid PAN. A non-resident taxable person has to make an advance deposit of tax equivalent to the estimated tax liability for the period for which the registration is sought. After filing application, a temporary reference number shall be generated and given to such person to enable him to deposit advance tax. Only after deposit of advance tax, his application will be further processed. For seeking extension of registration, an application in FORM GST REG-11 is required to be filed. The government may specify any person or class of persons or any State or Union Territory or any part to which requirement of authentication would not apply.
11.1 Registration — Verification of applications for grant of new registration
Observing that certain persons, who may not have furnished requisite returns and not paid tax for the tax periods covered under the old/cancelled registration are not applying for revocation of cancellation of registration, but are applying for fresh registration to avoid payment of the tax liabilities, the C.B.I. & C., has issued detailed instructions to be followed by the Proper Officer by exercising due caution while processing the application for registration submitted by the taxpayers, where the taxpayer is seeking another registration within the State although he has an existing registration within the said State or his earlier registration has been cancelled. — C.B.I. & C. Circular No. 95/14/2019-GST, dated 28-3-2019.
11.2 Deemed Approval
If the proper officer fails to take any action within seven working days from the date of submission of application, or within seven working days from the date of receipt of clarification, information or documents furnished by the assessee the application for grant of registration shall be deemed to have been approved.
11.3 Deemed registration under New Procedure
In following cases, the application for grant of registration shall be deemed to have been approved, if proper officer fails to take any action-
- Within a period of seven working days from the date of submission of the application in cases where a person successfully undergoes authentication of Aadhaar number or is notified for not doing so; or
- Within the time period prescribed under the proviso to sub-rule (2) of Rule 9, in cases where a person fails to undergo authentication of Aadhaar number as specified in sub-rule (4A) of rule 8; or
- Within a period of thirty days from the date of submission of the application in cases where a person does not opt for authentication of Aadhaar number; or
- Within a period of seven working days from the date of the receipt of the clarification, information or documents furnished by the applicant under sub-rule (2) of Rule 9.
11.4 Biometric based Aadhaar Authentication
CGST Rules have been amended to provide for biometric based Aadhaar Authentication and this is being implemented in Gujarat on pilot basis, prescribing that wherever an application under sub-rule (4) is filed, same would be followed by
- Biometric-based Aadhaar authentication and taking photograph, unless exempted under sub-section (6D) of section 25, if he has opted for authentication of Aadhaar number; or
- Taking biometric information, photograph and verification of such other KYC documents, as notified, unless the applicant is exempted under sub-section (6D) of section 25, if he has opted not to get Aadhaar authentication done, of the applicant where the applicant is an individual or of such individuals in relation to the applicant as notified under sub-section (6C) of Section 25 where the applicant is not an individual, along with the verification of the original copy of the documents uploaded with the application in FORM GSY REG-01 at one of the Facilitation Centres notified by the Commissioner and the application shall be deemed to be complete only after completion of the process laid down.
11.5 Furnishing of Bank Account Details
Rule 10A inserted in CGST Rules w.e.f 28-6-2019 requires specified registered persons to furnish information with respect to details of bank account, etc., except registered persons required to deduct tax at source or to collect tax at source under Rule 12 and persons who take suo motu registration under Rule 16. The details are to be provided within 45 days of grant of registration or due date of filing of return, whichever earlier. Any violation of this provision can lead to cancellation of registration.
11.6 Deemed registration
Grant of registration under the respective State Goods and Services Tax Act or the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act is deemed to be a registration under the CGST Act.
11.7 Issue of GST Registration Certificate
The proper officer after approval of GST registration application shall issue a certificate of registration in FORM GSY REG-06 showing the principal place of business and additional place(s) of business. This certificate shall be made available to the applicant on the Common Portal and a Goods and Services Yax Identification Number (GSYIN) shall be assigned to him. GSYIN is a 15 digit number with two characters for the State code; ten characters for the PAN or the Yax Deduction and Collection Account Number; two characters for the entity code; and one check sum character. Every certificate of registration shall be digitally signed by the proper officer. This certificate is required to be displayed at a prominent place of business.
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