GST

Tax industry requires registration for identification of taxpayers providing taxes. Registration of Entity under the GST law involves obtaining a unique number from the relevant tax authorities to collect taxes on behalf of the government and to take advantage of pre-tax relief for incoming taxes. Without registration, a person or any entity cannot collect tax from customers, nor claim any tax.

GST being a tax on the event of “supply”, every supplier needs to get registered. However, small businesses having all India aggregate turnover below Rupees 20 lakh (10 lakh if business is in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland or Tripura) need not register. The small businesses, having turnover below the threshold limit can, however, voluntarily opt to register.

However, a business whose turnover is more than Rs.40lakh then it is mandatory to register.

The aggregate turnover includes supplies made by him on behalf of his principals, but excludes the value of job-worked goods if he is a job worker. But persons who are engaged exclusively in the business of supplying goods or services or both that are not liable to tax or wholly exempt from tax or an agriculturist, to the extent of supply of produce out of cultivation of land are not liable to register under GST. Also, if all the supplies being made by a supplier are taxable under reverse charge, there is no requirement for such a supplier to register in light of Notification No. 5/2017-Central Tax dated 19.06.2017.

The registration in GST is PAN based and State specific.Supplier has to register in each of such State or Union territory from where he effects supply. In GST registration, the supplier is allotted a 15-digit GST identification number called “GSTIN” and a certificate of registration incorporating therein this GSTIN is made available to the
applicant on the GSTN common portal. The first 2 digits of the GSTIN is the State code, next 10 digits are the PAN
of the legal entity, the next two digits are for entity code, and the last digit is check sum number. Registration under GST is not tax specific which means that there is single registration for all the taxes i.e. CGST, SGST/UTGST, IGST and cesses.