Under any taxation law, registration is the most fundamental requirement for identification of tax payers ensuring tax compliance in the economy. Under GST law, a supplier is required to obtain State-wise registration. There is no concept of a centralized registration under GST. Since registration in GST is PAN based, once a supplier is liable to register, he has to obtain registration in each of the States/UTs in which he operates under the same PAN. Chapter VI - Registration [Sections 22 to 30] of the CGST Act contain the provisions relating to registration. State GST laws also prescribe identical provisions in relation to Registration.
Important definitions
Place of business:- It includes
a place from where the business is ordinarily carried on, and includes a warehouse, a godown or any other place where a taxable person stores his goods, supplies or receives goods or services or both; or
a place where a taxable person maintains his books of account; or
a place where a taxable person is engaged in business through an agent, by whatever name called.
Exempt supply:- means supply of any goods or services or both which attracts nil rate of tax or which may be wholly exempt from tax and includes non taxable supply.
Taxable supply:- means a supply of goods or services or both which is leviable to tax under this Act.
Taxable person:- means a person who is registered or liable to be registered under the Act.
Registered person:- means a person who is registered under section 25, but does not include a person having a Unique Identity Number.
Person liable for registration [Section 22]:-
- Every supplier shall be liable to be registered under this Act in the State or Union territory, other than special category States, from where he makes a taxable supply of goods or services or both, if his aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds twenty lakh rupees.
- Provided that where such person makes taxable supplies of goods or services or both from any of the special category States, he shall be liable to be registered if his aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds ten lakh rupees.
- Where a business carried on by a taxable person registered under this Act is transferred, whether on account of succession or otherwise, to another person as a going concern, the transferee or the successor, as the case may be, shall be liable to be registered with effect from the date of such transfer or succession.
- In a case of transfer pursuant to sanction of a scheme or an arrangement for amalgamation or, as the case may be, de-merger of two or more companies pursuant to an order of a High Court, Tribunal or otherwise, the transferee shall be liable to be registered, with effect from the date on which the Registrar of Companies issues a certificate of incorporation giving effect to such order of the High Court or Tribunal.
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.
- Aggregate turnover to exclude inward supplies on which tax is payable under reverse charge.
- Aggregate turnover excludes the element of CGST, SGST, UTGST, and IGST and compensation cess.
- Aggregate turnover to include total turnover of all branches under same PAN.
- Value of exported goods/ services, exempted goods/services, inter-State supplies including inter-State supplies between distinct persons having same PAN, to be included in aggregate turnover.
- Aggregate turnover to include all supplies made by the taxable person, whether on his own account or made on behalf of all his principals.
- Value of goods, after completion of job work, supplied directly from the premises of the registered job worker not to be included in its aggregate turnover.
- In case the job worker is unregistered, principal should declare job worker’s premises as his additional place of business and remove goods from the same.
- If the job worker is a registered person/ principal supplies notified goods, goods can be supplied directly from the premises of the job worker.
The supply of goods, after completion of job work, by a registered job worker shall be treated as the supply of goods by the principal referred to in section 143, and the value of such goods shall not be included in the aggregate turnover of the registered job worker.
Further, Notification No. 10/2019 CT dated 07.03.2019 exempts any person who is engaged exclusively in supply of goods and whose aggregate turnover in the financial year does not exceed Rs. 40 lakh, from registration requirement.
Explanation– For the purposes of this sub-section, a person shall be considered to be engaged exclusively in the supply of goods even if he is engaged in exempt supply of services provided by way of extending deposits, loans or advances in so far as the consideration is represented by way of interest or discount.
If a person with places of business in different States across India has one branch in a Special Category State, the threshold limit for GST registration will be reduced to Rs. 10 lakh.
In view of the above discussion, the registration requirements under GST can be summarised as follows:
Compulsory registration [Section 24]:-
- Persons making any inter-State taxable supply. However, threshold limit of Rs. 20 lakh (Rs. 10 lakh in case of Special Category States of Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur and Nagaland) is available in case of inter-State supply of taxable services and of notified handicraft goods and notified handmade goods.
- Casual taxable persons (CTP) making taxable supply. However, threshold limit of Rs. 20 lakh (Rs. 10 lakh in case of Special Category States of Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur and Nagaland) is available in case of CTP who is making inter-State taxable supplies of notified handicraft goods and notified hand-made goods and is availing the benefit of exemption.
- Persons who are required to pay tax under reverse charge on inward supplies received. On the other hand, persons engaged exclusively in making outward supplies, tax on which is liable to be paid on reverse charge basis are exempt from registration.
- Non-resident taxable persons (NRTP) making taxable supply.
- Every ECO (Electronic Commerce Operator) who is required to collect tax at source under section 52.
- Persons who supply goods and/or services, other than supplies specified under section 9(5), through such ECO who is required to collect tax at source under section 52.
- Persons who make taxable supply of goods or services or both on behalf of other taxable persons whether as an agent or otherwise.
- Every person supplying online information and data base access or retrieval (OIDAR) services from a place outside India to a person in India, other than a registered person.
- Input Service Distributor.
- Persons who are required to pay tax under section 9(5).
Persons not liable for registration [Section 23]:-
- 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 CGST Act/ IGST Act.
- An agriculturist, to the extent of supply of produce out of cultivation of land.
- Specified category of persons notified by the Government exempted from obtaining registration-
- Persons who are only engaged in making supplies of taxable goods or services or both, the total tax on which is liable to be paid on reverse charge basis by the recipient of such goods or services or both.
- The persons making inter-State supplies of taxable services and having an aggregate turnover, to be computed on all India basis, not exceeding an amount of Rs. 20 lakh in a financial year.
- Persons making inter-State taxable supplies of notified handicraft goods and notified handmade goods up to Rs. 20 lakh.
- Casual Taxable Persons making inter-State taxable supplies of notified handicraft goods and notified handmade goods up to Rs. 20 lakh.
- Persons making supplies of services through an ECO [other than supplies specified under section 9(5)] with aggregate turnover up to Rs. 20 lakh.
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