The Tax Mantra

GST Registration

GST is an indirect tax that has replaced many other indirect taxes and levies in India, such as excise duty, services tax, additional Custom duty, Value Added Tax, Surcharges. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a tax on goods and services consumed in India. GST was implemented with effect from 01.07.2017 based on the Goods and Service Tax Act passed by the Indian Parliament on March 29, 2017. GST has been levied keeping in mind the objective of ‘one nation one tax’.

 

Components of GST

There are three components under Goods and Service Tax Regime. These are Centarl Goods and Services Tax (CGST), State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) and Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST). CGST and SGST shall be levied on Intra state supply of goods and services or both, and IGST shall be levied on Inter state supply of goods and services or both. 

Taxable Event

Taxable event shall be “supply of goods or services or both”. It is an event the occurrence of which attracts the liability to tax.

Taxable Supply

“Taxable supply” means a supply of goods or services or both which is leviable to tax under theCGST Act, 2017.

Taxable person under GST

As per section 2 of CGST Act, 2017 a “Taxable person” means a person registered or liable to be registered under section 22 or section 24.

GST Registration Turnover Limit

GST registration can be obtained voluntarily by any person or entity, irrespective of turnover. However, as per Section 22 of CGST Act, 2017 every supplier is liable for mandatory registration if his aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds the following limits:

Rs. 10 lakh: In case of supply of goods or services from any of the specified special category states

Rs. 20 lakh: In case of supply of goods or services from other than specified special category states

Aggregate Turnover: Aggregate turnover = (Taxable supplies + Exempt Supplies + Exports of goods or services or both + Inter-State Supplies) – (Taxes + Value of Inward Supplies + Value of Inward Supplies taxable under Reverse Charge + Value of Non-Taxable Supplies). Aggregate turnover is calculated based on the Peremanent Account Number. Hence, even if one person has multiple places of business and has the same PAN, it must be summed to arrive at the aggregate turnover.

Special Category States: States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

For supply of goods: As per notification No.10/2019 – Central Tax w.e.f. 01/04/2019, any person engaged in the exclusive supply of goods whose aggregate turnover is more than Rs.40 lakhs in a year must obtain GST registration. To be eligible for the Rs.40 lakhs turnover limit, the supplier must satisfy the following conditions:

  • Person is not required to take compulsory registration under Section 24 of the CGST Act, 2017.
  • Should not be involved in the supply of ice cream and other edible ice whether or not containing cocoa., pan masala or tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes.
  • The supplier should not be making intra-state (supplying goods within the same state) supplies in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura and Uttarakhand.
  • Person should not be excercising option of voulntary registration under Section 25(3) or such registered persons who intend to continue with their registration under the CGST Act, 2017.

If the above conditions are not fulfilled, the supplier of goods would be required to obtain GST registration when the turnover in a financial year exceeds Rs.20 lakhs (for normal category states) and Rs.10 lakhs (for special category states).

Compulsory Registration under GST

As per Section 24 of CGST Act, 2017, the following categories of persons are required to obtain mandatory registration:

  • Persons making Inter-state taxable supply

All persons who are making inter – state taxable supply of goods or services or both are liable to seek registration mandatorily even if the value of such taxable supply is less than the exemption limit.

 Casual Taxable Person

Casual taxable person who are making taxable supply of goods or services or both are liable to seek registration mandatorily even if the value of such taxable supply is less than the exemption limit.

  • Persons who are required to pay tax under Reverse Charge Mechanism

“Reverse charge” means a mechanism under which the liability to pay tax is on the recipient of the taxable supply rather than on the supplier of taxable supplies. Therefore, any person liable to pay tax under reverse charge shall be required to get himself registered irrespective of the fact that he is making supplies that are not subject to tax under GST.

  • Electronic Commerce Operator (ECO)

“Electronic commerce Operator” means a person who owns, operates, manages the electronic facility or platform for electronic commerce. Therefore, they are liable to seek compulsory registration under GST irrespective of the value of such supply.

  • Non-Resident Taxable Person

Non – Resident taxable persons are liable to seek compulsory registration under GST irrespective of the value of such supply.

 Persons who are required to deduct tax

Persons who are required to deduct tax under Section 51 of CGST Act, 2017 are liable to seek registration mandatorily.

Section 51(1) provides that the Government may mandate any department or establishment of the Central Government or the State Government or, local authority or, government agencies or, such persons or category of persons as may be notified by the government  to deduct tax at the effective rate of 2% (1% each under CGST Act and SGST Act) from the payment made or credited to the supplier of taxable goods or services or both, where the total value of such supply, under a contarct, exceeds Rs. 250000.

  • Persons who make taxable supply of goods or services or both on behalf of other taxable person, whether as agent or otherwise
  •  Input Service Distributor

Input service distributor means an entity registered under GST and which will receive the tax invoices towards receipt of input services and will further distribute the input tax credit availed on such services to the various supplier units (having the same PAN) proportionately.

Further, it means that an office will have two registrations one normal for making taxable supplies and another as ISD to distribute credits.

Further more, different offices of a tax payer can apply for ISD registration for all such different offices. Supplier with a PAN having more than one registration can have more than one registration as ISD also.

  • OIDAR Service Provider

Every person supplying online Information and database access and retrieval services (OIDAR services) from a place outside India to a non – taxable online recipient has to obtain registration mandatorily irrespective of the value of his supply mandatorily.

As per Section 2(16) of the IGST Act , 2017 a Non-Taxable Online Recipient means any Government, local authority, governmental authority, an individual or any other person not registered and receiving online information and database access or retrieval services in relation to any purpose other than commerce, industry or any other business or profession, located in taxable territory.

  • Those e-commerce operators who are notified as liable for GST payment under Section 9(5) of the CGST Act, 2017. Service categories notified under this Section are broadly the services of transportation of passengers (e.g. by Ola, Uber etc); service of providing accommodation in hotels, inn, campsites; and housekeeping services like plumbing, carpentering etc.
  • TDS Deductor. This covers the authorities notified under notification No. 33/2017-Central Tax dated 15.09.2017, who are mandated to deduct GST TDS @ 1% on payment made to supplier where value of such supply, under a contract, is more than Rs. 2.5 lakh. Such authorities are required to register separately as a TDS deductor irrespective of the turnover, the operation of tax deduction has been implemented w.e.f 1st October, 2018.
  • Such other person or class of persons as may be notified by the government

Option of voulntary registration

A person may opt for voluntary registration under Section 25 of CGST Act, where he is not liable to be registered in terms of Section 22 or Section 24 as discussed above. Once a person applies for voluntary registration, all the provisions of the CGST Act relating to a registered person shall apply to him.

Documents Required for GST Registration

Sole proprietor / Individual

  • PAN card of the owner
  • Aadhar card of the owner
  • Photograph of the owner (in JPEG format, maximum size – 100 KB)
  • Bank account details*
  • Address proof**

Partnership Firms and LLP

  • PAN card of all partners (including managing partner and authorized signatory)
  • Copy of partnership deed
  • Photograph of all partners and authorised signatories (in JPEG format, maximum size – 100 KB)
  • Address proof of partners (Passport, driving license, Voters identity card, Aadhar card etc.)
  • Aadhar card of authorised signatory
  • Proof of appointment of authorized signatory
  • In the case of LLP, registration certificate / Board resolution of LLP
  • Bank account details*
  • Address proof of principal place of business**

HUF

  • PAN card of HUF
  • PAN card and Aadhar card of Karta
  • Photograph of the owner (in JPEG format, maximum size – 100 KB)
  • Bank account details*
  • Address proof of principal place of business**

Company (Public and Private) (Indian and foreign)

  • PAN card of Company
  • Certificate of incorporation given by Ministry of Corporate Affairs
  • Memorandum of Association / Articles of Association
  • PAN card and Aadhar card of authorized signatory.
  • The authorised signatory must be an Indian even in case of foreign companies/branch registration
  • PAN card and address proof of all directors of the Company
  • Photograph of all directors and authorised signatory (in JPEG format, maximum size – 100 KB)
  • Board resolution appointing authorised signatory / Any other proof of appointment of authorised signatory (in JPEG format, maximum size – 100 KB)
  • Bank account details*
  • Address proof of principal place of business**

Society/ Trust/ Club

  • PAN card of society/trust/club
  • PAN Card of Promoter/ Partners
  • PAN card and Aadhaar card of the authorized signatory.
  • Registration Certificate of society or club
  • Photograph of promoter/ partners (in JPEG format, maximum size – 100 KB)
  • Board Resolution or any other proof of appointing authorized signatory
  • Bank account details*
  • Address proof of registered office**

*Bank account details: For bank account details, a copy of cancelled cheque or extract of passbook/bank statement (containing the first and last page) must be uploaded (in JPEG format / PDF format, maximum size – 100 KB)  

**Address proof: Upload any one of the following documents as address proof:

1.       Property tax receipt

2.       Municipal khata copy

3.       Electricity bill copy

4.       Ownership deed/document (in case of owned property)

5.       Lease/ Rent agreement (in case of leased/rented property) – to be submitted  along with (1),(2) or (3)

6.       Consent letter/NOC from the owner (in case of consent arrangement or shared property) – to be submited along with (1),(2) or (3)

What is GSTIN?

Before GST was implemented, all dealers registered under the state VAT law were assigned a unique TIN number by the respective state tax authorities. Similarly, service providers were assigned a service tax registration number by the Central Board of Indirect taxes and Custom (CBIC).

Under the GST regime, all registered taxpayers are assigned a unique Goods and Services Tax Identification Number, popularly known as GSTIN. Obtaing GSTIN is a part of GST registration process.

Each taxpayer is assigned a state-wise PAN-based 15-digit Goods and Services Taxpayer Identification Number (GSTIN). It is provided free of cost.

Its structure is as follows:

  • the first two digits represent the State Code as per Indian Census 2011
  • The following next 10 digits represent the PAN of the taxpayer
  • The next thirteenth digit will be assigned based on the number of registration within a state
  • The fourteenth digit will be ‘z’ by default
  • The last digit will be for Check Code. It may be an alphabet or a number

Download GST Registration Certificate

GST Certificate is issued to people who are registered under GST. Those with GST registration certificates are mandatorily required to display the same prominently at their place of business. Downloading GST certificate is an easy process through the GST Portal. Login to the GST Account and and go to User Services. In User Services, click on View / Download Certificate to download GST registration certificate.

For obtaining GST registration and GSTIN, you can reach out to our team anytime.