Registration under GST

Registration of an assessee or a ‘taxable person’ is the
starting point in any tax law. It is the most fundamental requirement of
identification of the business for tax purposes and monitoring compliance
requirements.

CGST Act provides for registration of every supplier
effecting the taxable supplies. Every supplier having aggregate turnover
exceeding Rs. 20 lakh in the financial year is required to be registered. This
threshold limit of Rs.20 lakh is reduced to Rs.10 lakh in cases of supplies
effected in the States of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and
Tripura. For calculating the Threshold limit, supply of goods by a registered
Job-worker after completing job work, shall be treated as the supply of goods
by the “principal” and shall not be included in the aggregate
turnover of the registered job worker.

Registration, under GST, is a State-wise requirement which
means a person making supplies in every State is required to be separately
registered in that State once the threshold limit is crossed taking to account
supplies from all States. Such a person making taxable supplies from different
places in the State will be required to take one registration in the State,
except in case of business verticals in which case multiple registrations are
permitted. If a tax payer supplies from different places in the State, he has
to opt for one place as “principal place of business” and mention all other
places in the State as “additional place of business” at the time of obtaining
registration. The application for registration will have to be made within 30
days from the date the liability of registration arises.

A business vertical means a distinguishable component of an
enterprise that is engaged in the supply of individual goods or services or a
group of related goods or services which is subject to risks and returns that
are different from those of the other business verticals and for this purpose
the following factors shall be considered:

–   the nature of the goods or services;

–   the nature of the production processes;

–   the type or class of customers for the goods
or services;

–   the methods used for distribution of goods or
supply of services; and

–   the nature of regulatory environment
(wherever applicable), including banking, insurance, or public utilities.

Aggregate turnover is defined to mean the aggregate value of
all taxable supplies, exempt supplies, export of goods or services or both and
inter-State supplies made by the person having same Permanent Account Number to
be computed on the all India basis. However, Central tax (CGST), State tax
(SGST), Union Territory tax (UTGST), Integrated tax (IGST) and Cess are not to
be included in such supplies. Further, value of inward supplies on which tax is
payable on reverse charge basis is also to be excluded.

A Special Economic Zone unit or developer shall make a
separate application for registration as a business vertical distinct from its
other units located outside the Special Economic Zone.

All the existing tax payers (under Excise, VAT or Service
Tax) are not eligible for threshold limit exemptions. They have to compulsorily
migrate and obtain provisional registration from GSTN before the appointed day,
irrespective of the fact that their turnover is less than threshold limit
specified in the GST Law. However, such tax payers can opt out from the
provisional registration if their supplies are not covered under GST or they
are within the threshold limit.

A casual taxable person or a non-resident taxable person
shall have to apply for the registration at least 5 days prior to the
commencement of business. A casual taxable person is one who occasionally
undertakes transaction involving supply of goods for services or both in the
course or furtherance of business in a State or Union Territory where he does
not have fixed place of business. A non-resident taxable person is one who
occasionally undertakes transaction involving supply of goods for services or
both in the course or furtherance of business but not having fixed place of
business or residence in India.

Categories of persons who are required to be registered
irrespective of the threshold

–   person making any inter-State taxable supply;

–   casual taxable person making taxable supply;

–   persons who are required to pay tax under
reverse charge;

–   electronic commerce operator undertaking
supplies on behalf of other suppliers (liable to discharge tax liability for
supply of services as may be notified)

–   non-resident taxable person making taxable supply;

–   persons who are required to deduct tax at
Source under GST;

–   persons who supply goods or services or both
on behalf of other registered taxable person whether as an agent or otherwise;

–   input service distributor;

–   every electronic commerce operator;

–   every person supplying online information and
database access or retrieval services from a place outside India to a person in
India, other than a registered taxable person;

–   such other person or class of persons as may
be notified by the Central Government or a State Government on the
recommendations of the Council.

Following persons are 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 CGST or under the Integrated Goods and Services
Tax Act

–   An agriculturist, to the extent of supply of
produce out of cultivation of land.

–   Government may, on the recommendations of the
Council, by notification, specify the category of persons who may be exempted
from obtaining registration under this Act.

Voluntary registration

Provisions are made for a person, though not required to be
registered, may get himself registered voluntarily.

Deemed registration or rejection of application for
registration and cancellation or revocation of registration certificate

Any grant of registration or Unique Identity Number under any
SGST or UTGST shall be construed as grant of registration under CGST.
Similarly, any grant of registration or Unique Identity Number under CGST shall
be construed as grant of registration under SGST or UTGST, as a case may be.
Any rejection of application for registration or cancellation or revocation of
registration shall be treated likewise.

Transfer of Business and Registration

A transferee, or the successor of a business on going concern
basis 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, de-merger of two or more companies by an
order of a High Court, 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. This means that
the Registration Certificate issued to a person is not transferable to any
other person.

Special Provisions relating to casual taxable person and
non-resident taxable person

The Certificate of Registration issued to a casual taxable
person and non-resident taxable person shall be valid for 90 days from the
effective date of registration or any earlier period as specified in the
application. An extension of period not exceeding 90 days may also be granted
on sufficient cause being shown. An advance deposit of tax shall be credited to the electronic cash ledger equivalent to the estimated
tax liability for the registration period sought.

Suo Moto Registration by the department

During the course of any survey, inspection, search, enquiry
or any other proceeding under the Act, it is found that a person liable to
register has failed to apply for the same, proper officer may register such
person on temporary basis and issue order in FORM GST REG-12. Registration will
be effective from the date of order. Such person is required to apply for
registration within 30 days from the date of such temporary order, unless he
files an appeal against such order.

Amendment to registration

There are various situations in which the Registration issued
by the competent authority requires amendment in line with real time
situations. In such a case, every registered taxable person shall inform any
changes in the information furnished at the time of registration within 15 days
of such changes.

The proper officer cannot reject the request for amendment
without affording a reasonable opportunity of being heard by following the
principles of natural justice.

Cancellation of registration

A registration granted can be cancelled by the proper officer
either on his own or on application of the registered person when —

–   the business is discontinued, transferred
fully for any reason including death of proprietor, amalgamation with other
legal entity, demerged or otherwise disposed of; or

–   there is any change in the constitution of
the business; or

–   the taxable person is no longer liable to be
registered.

     Registration may be cancelled
retrospectively if the proper officer so deems fit any of the following
situations after giving the person an opportunity of being heard:

(a)
Registered person has contravened such provisions of the Act or Rules;

(b) Person
paying tax under Composition Scheme has not furnished returns for 3 consecutive
tax periods;

(c) any
taxable person has not furnished returns for a continuous period of 6 months;

(d) person
who has taken voluntary registration has not commenced business within 6 months
from the date of registration;

(e)
Registration has been obtained by means of fraud, willful misstatement or
suppression of facts.

As such, cancellation of registration shall not affect the
liability of the taxable person to pay tax and other dues under the Act for any
period prior to the date of cancellation whether or not such tax and other dues
are determined before or after the date of cancellation.

Where the registration is cancelled, the registered taxable
person shall pay an amount equivalent to the credit of input tax in respect of
inputs held in stock and inputs contained in semi-finished or finished goods
held in stock on the day immediately preceding the date of such cancellation or
the output tax payable on such goods, whichever is higher. The payment can be
made by way of debit in the electronic credit or electronic cash ledger.

In case of capital goods, the taxable person shall pay an
amount equal to the input tax credit taken on the said capital goods reduced by
the percentage points (to be prescribed) or the tax on the transaction value of
such capital goods whichever is higher.

Revocation of cancellation of registration

Any registered taxable person, whose registration is
cancelled, may apply to proper officer for revocation of cancellation of the
registration within thirty days from the date of service of the cancellation
order.

The proper officer shall not reject the application for
revocation of cancellation of registration without giving a show cause notice
and without giving the person a reasonable opportunity of being heard.

Procedure for registration

–   Online application to be made in FORM GST
REG-01 by declaring PAN, mobile number, email address, State or UT, along with
other documents duly signed and electronically verified. Persons who are liable
to deduct TDS or collect TCS shall apply in FORM GST REG-07. Non-resident
taxable person shall apply in FORM GST REG-09. A non-resident taxable person
shall be allotted a Temporary Reference Number for making an advance deposit of
estimated tax liability.

–   Acknowledgement will be generated in FORM GST
REG-02.

–   Proper officer shall either grant
registration or issue a notice in FORM GST REG-03 for any additional
information and clarification within 3 working days. Applicant should reply in
FORM GST REG-04 within 7 working days from date of receipt of notice. If
applicant fails to reply, proper officer may reject the application in FORM GST
REG-05 or if he is satisfied with the information furnished then he may grant
registration within 7 working days