The GST Registration Procedure
Chapter Sixteen
Syllabus topic 5, "Business Registration under Goods and Service Tax Laws."
Pages 35 to 37 of 80
When the application must be made
Section 25(1):
Every person who is liable to be registered under section 22 or section 24 shall apply for registration in every such State or Union territory in which he is so liable within thirty days from the date on which he becomes liable to registration, in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed:
Provided that a casual taxable person or a non-resident taxable person shall apply for registration at least five days prior to the commencement of business
Thirty days from becoming liable, and five days before commencing for a casual or a non-resident person. Those two figures are asked.
Note the words "in every such State". Registration is State-wise, not national. A firm liable in Maharashtra and Gujarat applies twice.
The section's own Explanation adds one more rule: a person supplying from the territorial waters of India registers in the coastal State or Union territory where the nearest point of the appropriate baseline lies.
One registration per State, with an option
Section 25(2):
A person seeking registration under this Act shall be granted a single registration in a State or Union territory:
Provided that a person having multiple places of business in a State or Union territory may be granted a separate registration for each such place of business, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.
Single by default; separate by choice. And a person taking a second registration in the same State is then two distinct persons under section 25(4), so a transfer between his own two units is a supply.
Section 25(1) second proviso makes a Special Economic Zone unit or developer take a separate registration whether it wants one or not.
PAN and Aadhaar
Section 25(6):
Every person shall have a Permanent Account Number issued under the Income-tax Act, 1961 in order to be eligible for grant of registration:
Provided that a person required to deduct tax under section 51 may have, in lieu of a Permanent Account Number, a Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number issued under the said Act in order to be eligible for grant of registration.
No PAN, no registration. This is the dependency that puts PAN first in the order of registrations.
Section 25(6A) requires every registered person to undergo authentication, or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number, in the prescribed form, manner and time.
The form and the two parts
Registration is applied for in Form GST REG-01, on the common portal, and it is filled in two parts.
Part A takes the PAN, the mobile number and the email address. The PAN is validated against the income-tax database; the mobile and the email are verified by one-time password. A Temporary Reference Number is issued.
The GST Registration Procedure
Part B is filled using that reference number, and it takes the rest: constitution of business, principal and additional places of business, the goods and services supplied with their codes, the details of the proprietor or of every partner, bank account details, and the authorised signatory.
Part B is signed, by digital signature for a company or a limited liability partnership, and by electronic verification code or Aadhaar-based authentication for others.
The steps
- Fill Part A with PAN, mobile and email; verify by one-time password; receive the Temporary Reference Number.
- Fill Part B with the business details and upload the documents.
- Complete Aadhaar authentication, where the applicant opts for it. Where Aadhaar authentication is not done, the application goes to physical verification of the place of business.
- Sign and submit. An acknowledgement in Form GST REG-02 is issued.
- The proper officer examines the application. If it is in order, registration is granted. If not, a notice in Form GST REG-03 seeks clarification, which is answered in Form GST REG-04.
- Registration is granted in Form GST REG-06, with the certificate and the GSTIN. Rejection is in Form GST REG-05.
Section 26 supplies the deemed registration rule: a grant of registration under the State or Union territory Act is deemed to be a grant under the CGST Act, so one application serves both.
The documents
For a proprietor: PAN and Aadhaar of the proprietor, a photograph, proof of the place of business, and a bank account statement or cancelled cheque.
For a partnership firm: PAN of the firm, the partnership deed, PAN and Aadhaar and a photograph of every partner, proof of appointment of the authorised signatory with his own PAN and Aadhaar, proof of the place of business, and the bank details.
Proof of the place of business is an ownership document, or a rent or lease agreement with the lessor's ownership document, or a consent letter with the consenter's ownership document where the premises are shared.
Reading a GSTIN
The certificate carries a fifteen-character Goods and Services Tax Identification Number, and it is not random.
| Position | What it is |
|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | State code, from the census codes. 27 is Maharashtra, 24 Gujarat, 07 Delhi |
| 3 to 12 | The PAN of the registered person, all ten characters |
| 13 | The entity number of the same PAN in that State: 1 for the first registration, 2 for the second |
| 14 | The letter Z, at present |
| 15 | A check character |
Read positions 3 to 12 of any GSTIN and you have the holder's PAN. That is why one PAN with two GSTINs is one enterprise for Udyam under paragraph 3(3) of the notification, and two distinct persons for GST under section 25(4).
The GST Registration Procedure
After registration
Section 28, amendment. Every registered person shall inform the proper officer of any change in the particulars furnished, and the officer may approve or reject the amendment.
Section 29, cancellation or suspension. The proper officer may cancel a registration, on his own motion or on an application, where the business is discontinued, transferred, amalgamated, demerged or otherwise disposed of, where there is a change in the constitution of the business, where the person is no longer liable to be registered, and in the other cases the section names.
Section 30, revocation of cancellation. Where a registration is cancelled by the proper officer on his own motion, the person may apply for revocation of the cancellation within the prescribed period.
The three sections run in order and a student should name them in order: register under 25, amend under 28, cancel under 29, and revoke the cancellation under 30.
What happens if registration is not taken
The person remains liable for the tax from the date liability arose, cannot collect tax lawfully, cannot issue a tax invoice, cannot take input tax credit, and is liable to penalty. The liability runs from the day the threshold was crossed, not from the day the officer notices, which is why the thirty-day rule matters.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.