The provision relating to registration is covered under the Chapter IV of Model
Goods and Services tax Act 2016. Government has already published business
process on registration. By combined reading of these two documents, it seems
that the process of registration is much easier in GST Law. The exemption limit
under proposed GST law has also been drastically narrowed [Rs. 10 laks/Rs. 5
Lakhs] as compared to limit as stated in Central Excise Law [ Rs. 150 Lakhs].
Many provisions as stated in Central Excise, Service tax and VAT law are kept
as there are and new concept like casual dealer has been added. It seems that
all the
procedure relating to registration are online but in case need arises, physical verification, also can be done.
Who needs to be registered under GST regime?
The provisions related to registration are
provided under Chapter VI of Goods and Services Tax Law 2016 (hereinafter
referred as An Act). According to Section 19, every person who is registered or
holds a registration certificate under Central Excise law, Service tax law,
Central Sales tax or under State VAT law shall be liable to be registered under
this Act with effect from date of enactment of this Act.
In Case of a person who is not registered under
any of the above act shall be liable to be registered under this act if his
turnover in financial year exceeds the taxable threshold. The threshold limit
of turnover for the purpose of registration is kept Rs. 4 Lakhs for North East
States including Sikkim and Rs. 9 Lakhs for other States.
For this purpose turnover means all India
Gross Annual turnover including turnover of exempted goods, exempted services
and exports. So if any person is doing the business from more than one
location, turnover of all such units shall be considered for this purpose.
It may be noted that if a person having
turnover below threshold limit but wants to get registered under GST act can
apply voluntarily for the same under section 19(3). However a person doing
following activities has to apply for registration irrespective of his
turnover;
1.
Inter-state supply
2.
Person liable for payment of
GST under reverse charge basis
3.
Casual Taxable person
4.
Non-resident taxable person
5.
Person Supplying a goods on
behalf of other person as an agent or otherwise
6.
Input service distributor
7.
Person supplying goods and/or
services [other than branded goods] through electronic commerce operator
8.
Electronic commerce operator.
9.
An aggregator supplying goods
under his own brand name
What is the time limit for the registration?
Every Manufacturer or a Service provider or a
dealer registered under Central Excise Act or under Service tax law or State
Vat law will get automatic Pan based registration number without fresh application.
In case of new dealer, he has to apply online for the registration within a specified period
as stated below
|
Sl. No
|
Category
|
Time Limit
|
|
1.
|
A dealer crossing threshold limit as specified under GST Law.
[Rs 9 Lakhs or Rs 4 Lakhs]
|
Within 30 days from crossing of such limit.
|
|
2.
|
Other than 1 above
|
Within 30 days from the date on which he becomes liable for
registration
|
How to apply for the registration under GST?
Every person who wants to obtain a
registration needs to apply for registration through Goods and Services Tax
Network portal (GSTN Portal). In Case of fresh registration a person needs to
follow following procedure
A] Procedure for fresh registration under GST
Ø
Application for
Registration
(1) A person needs to apply online for registration either through GSTN Portal or through
Facilitation Center in such form along with such documents as may be
prescribed. The application must be signed using digital signature. In
absence of digital signature, taxpayer would have to send a signed copy of the
summary extract of the submitted application form printed from the portal to a central
processing center to be operated by GSTN.
(2) Once a completed application is submitted online, a message asking for
confirmation will be sent through e-mail and SMS to the authorized signatory of
the applicant. On receipt of such confirmation from the authorized signatory,
Acknowledgement Number would be generated and intimated to the applicant.
Ø Documents
required for registration
(3) Following documents shall be required for
the purpose of registration
A.
Proof of Constitution >such
as Partnership deed, Registration Certificate under various statute, etc.
B.
Details & Proof of place of
business such as copy of electricity bill, municipal tax receipt, rent agreement, etc.
C.
Details of bank account such as
name of Account Holder, MICR code, IFSC code and bank branch details.
D.
Details of authorized signatory
E.
Photograph of
v Proprietor in case of Proprietary Concern
v Partners in case of Partnership Firm / LLP –
Managing/ Authorized
v Karta in case of HUF
v Managing Director or the Authorized Person in
case of Company
v Managing Trustee in case of Trust
v Members of Managing Committee in case of
Association of Person or Body of Individual
v CEO or his equivalent in case of Local Body
v CEO or his equivalent in case of Statutory
Body
v Person in Charge in case Other than above
category of person
Ø Verification of
Filed Information
(4) On receipt of the online
application GSTN system shall carry out a
preliminary verification of documents like CIN number, PAN Number, Aadhar Number with various authorities
through inter-portal connectivity. A copy of signed application along with the documents as stated above shall
be sent to the GSTN portal.
After primary verification GSTN portal shall forward such application to Central/State tax authorities for further verification.
Central/state authorities shall within 3 working days verify the correctness of
details as shown in the application and will communicate the same to the GSTN portal. If the details
as filed by the applicant are correct, registration certificate shall be
granted to the applicant. If registration is refused the reason for the same
shall be communicated to the concerned person. However reasonable opportunity
of being heard shall be given to the applicant (Section 19(8))
Ø Grant
of Registration Certificate
(5) The Central/State authorities must respond
on application to GSTN portal within 3 working days, either communicating
approval or raising a query. In case non communication of approval or
rejection, the application shall be deemed to be approved by the
authorities and GSTN portal shall generate the registration certificate and
will communicate to the Applicant through e-mail and SMS. Applicant can download the RC from GSTN Portal
In case if tax authorities raise any query,
same shall be communicated to applicant. Applicant will have to respond to the
same within a period of 7 working days failing which the application will be rejected. Within next 7 working days, tax authorities will
respond to the applicant and will grant the Registration Certificate.
[B] Procedure for migration of existing registrants under GST
Ø Migration
of Data in GSTN
(1) All existing registrants, who have
registered themselves either under Central Law or with State Law or with both
shall get automatically migrated into GST. The migration activity is conducted
by NSDL with the co-ordination of central and state tax authority.
(2) Currently for the purpose of registration
under Central & State Law, 50 to 107 fields are required to be filled in.
Under proposed GST, 120 fields are designed for registration. Thus there is gap
of 13 to 70 fields for which the data will have to be collected from the
taxpayer.
The GSTN shall provide a provisional
registration number based on the data filtered by the NSDL. The user name and
password shall be communicated to tax authorities who shall communicate the
same to taxpayer. After getting user id and password, taxpayer will have to
complete the remaining details of registration form along with the requisite
document within the stipulated time.
Ø Grant
of Registration Certificate
(3) After completion of form, tax authorities
shall verify the same with the documents filled by the taxpayer and will
communicate the same to the GSTN. After approval from tax authorities, GSTN
shall generate the registration certificate and shall communicate the same to
the taxpayer through E-mail and SMS.
Ø Registration
Number
(4) After successful completion of
registration process, GSTN portal shall provide 15 digit alpha Numeric
registration number. The registration number will be known as Goods and Service
Tax Identification Number (GSTIN). The structure GSTIN will be as follow
State Code Pan Number Entity Code Blank Check Digit
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
State code shall be taken from the Indian
Census 2011. Entity code denotes number of registered entities under a state.
E.g. if a legal entity is having single registration in a particular state,
"1" shall be the 13th code of registration. This way 35 business
vertical of same legal entity can be registered in a state. 14th and 15th digit
is intentionally kept blank for future use.
Ø Whether
amendment in registration certificate is possible?
(1) It is possible that the details as
provided in the application form for registration may change subsequently. In
such event taxpayer must intimate such change to the tax authorities under
section 20(1) of an act in such manner as may be prescribed.
(2) In case of change to composition scheme will require submission of reason along with the documents to the tax authorities
(3) The officer reserves a right to approve or reject the amendments under section 20(2)of an Act. Cancellation of amendments can't be done without giving a show cause notice and without giving an opportunity of being heard
Ø In
what circumstances registration can be cancelled or surrendered?
The proper officer may, either on his own
motion or on an application of the taxpayer cancel the registration within such
period as may be prescribed. In the following cases, the registration can be
either surrendered by the registrant or cancelled by the tax authorities:
(1) the business has been discontinued or
transferred fully
(2) there is any change in the
constitution of the business; or
(3) The taxable person, other than the
person registered under sub-section (3) of section 19, is no longer liable to
be registered under Schedule III.
(4) The proper officer may, in the manner
as may be prescribed, cancel the registration of taxable person from such date,
including any anterior date, as he may deem fit, where, -
(a) The registered taxable person has contravened such
provisions of the Act or the rules made thereunder as may be prescribed; or
(b)A person paying tax under Section 8 has not furnished returns
for three consecutive tax periods; or
(c) Any taxable person, other than a person specified in
clause (b), has not furnished returns for a continuous period of six months; or
(d) Any person who has taken voluntary
registration under sub-section (3) of section 19 has not commenced business
within six months from the date of registration.
(5) Where any registration has been
obtained by means of fraud, willful misstatement or suppression of facts, the
proper officer may cancel the registration with retrospective effect, subject
to the provisions of Section 29.
The cancellation of registration may be
preceded by system generated notice giving 7 days' time for furnishing reply by
the taxpayer. Principle of natural justice to be followed before cancellation,
i.e., giving an opportunity to taxpayer to be heard.
If the taxpayer approaches the tax authority
for revocation of surrendered or cancelled registration, the surrendered /
cancelled registration can be revoked under Section 22 of the Act. The action
for revocation would be initiated by that Authority which has cancelled the
registration or had earlier accepted the surrender of registration
Ø Multiple
registrations in case of multiple locations
In case a person is doing business from
multiple locations in a State, he has to apply separately for registration for
each and every location of business under sub Section (2) of Section 19 of the
act.
For each State, the taxable person will have
to take a separate registration, even though the taxable person may be
supplying goods or services or both from more than one State as a single legal
entity
Ø Registration
as a casual dealer
Sometimes a taxable person wants to do a
business in a State or States for a limited period. In such case, he needs a temporary
registration for that period only. In such event a taxable person can apply for
the registration as a casual taxable person. Casual taxable person is defined
under section 2(21) as a person who occasionally undertakes transactions
involving supply of goods and/or services in the course or furtherance of
business whether as principal, agent or in any other capacity, in a taxable
territory where he has no fixed place of business.
Casual taxable person or non-resident person
can apply for registration under Subsection (1) of Section 19A along with the
deposit equivalent to his estimated tax liability for the said period. The
proper officer shall grant such registration certificate for the period of
ninety days. The said period can be further extended up to next ninety days by
the authority on the request. Such additional period shall be granted only on
the receipt of additional deposit towards estimated tax liability for said
additional period.
