GST Registration

Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced in India with effect from 1^st July, 2017. GST is a multi stage, destination oriented indirect tax and it has replaced multiple indirect taxes like excise duty, VAT, Service Tax etc. The Goods and Services Act was passed by the Indian Parliament on 29^th March, 2017 and it was implemented on 1^st July, 2017.

It takes 5 to 7 working days to obtain GST registration with the help from Ofin. On receipt of your request for registration an expert for GST Registration will reach out to you and consult you on your GST Registration and documentation. The process for GST Registration is totally online, you do not need to visit the department or our office. However, in some cases the GST officer may visit your place of business to verify the same.

GST Registration is mandatory for a business providing services or selling goods beyond a threshold limit of turnover as notified by the Government. However GST Registration can also be obtained by any entity voluntarily irrespective of its turnover.

Service Provider:

Any service provider who is providing services of more than Rs. 20 lacs in aggregate is compulsorily required to obtain GST Registration. This threshold limit of Rs. 20 lacs is further reduced to Rs. 10 lacs in special category states.

Supplier of Goods:

Any supplier of goods who is supplying goods worth more than Rs. 40 lacs is compulsorily required to obtain GST Registration. Earlier the limit for mandatory registration under GST was Rs. 20 lacs which was increased to Rs. 40 lacs in the 32nd GST Council meeting held on 10th January, 2019.

However, to be eligible for the limit of Rs. 40 lacs of turnover, the dealer must fulfill certain conditions as mentioned below:

• The dealer must not be providing any services;
• The dealer must not be dealing in tobacco, pan masala and ice creams;
• The dealer must not be engaged in intra-state supplies in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram, Telangana, Puducherry and Uttarakhand.

If the above conditions are not fulfilled, the dealer must register if the turnover crosses Rs. 20 lacs and Rs. 10 lacs in case of special category states.

Special category states:

States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu Kashmir, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Manipur,  Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are assigned status of special category states under GST.

What is GSTIN?

Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN) is a 15 characters registration number provided to the registered entities. The 15 characters includes the state code followed by PAN of the business entity. Last three characters includes the number of GST registrations under the same PAN within the state and check code.

Types of GST Registrations

There are different types of GST Registrations like regular, casual taxable person, e-commerce operators and non-resident taxable person. The threshold limit of Rs. 40 lacs (Rs. 20 lacs for service providers) does not apply to casual taxable person, e-commerce operators and non-resident taxable person.

Casual Taxable Person:

A casual taxable person means a person who undertakes transactions involving selling of goods or services or both in course of furtherance of his business, in a State or Union Territory where he does not have a fixed place of business. For example, when a business participates in an exhibition outside the state in which it is registered under GST, it becomes casual taxable person and it has to register as a casual taxable person in that state.

E-commerce operators:

As per section 2(45) of the CGST Act, 2017, any person who owns, operates or manages digital or electronic facility or platform for ecommerce is an e-commerce operator (ECO). In short, any person selling through internet is termed as e-commerce operator and has to register under GST irrespective of its turnover.

Non-resident taxable person:

A non-resident taxable person is any person who occasionally undertakes transactions involving supply of goods or services or both in India but does not have any permanent business or residence in India. There is no threshold limit for registration of a non-resident taxable person. A non-resident taxable person cannot exercise option to pay tax under composition levy. The non-resident taxable person has to apply for registration minimum five days prior to commencing business in India. The non-resident taxable person can apply for GST registration in India using his valid passport (Permanent Account Number – PAN is not necessary). A non-resident taxable person has to submit the application with its tax identification number or unique identification number on the basis of which it is identified by the Government of that country. Further, the non-resident taxable person needs to deposit tax in advance based on its estimated tax liability.