GST Registration Process

Goods and Services Tax is the new taxation structure. It has changed the whole system of paying taxes by manufacturers, distributors, and end-customers to Central and State Government. Every business, individual or company which provides services or deals in manufacturing or selling of products must get registered under the GST Act if their financial transactions fall under the taxation slab.

As all the,17 State and Central taxes subsumed in one tax form i.e. GST; now every entity needs to get registered if wants to collect taxes from a customer or claim a tax credit of the tax paid by them.

Entities having the annual turnover of ₹ 20 lakhs and above will have to register under GST. The limit is Rs ₹ 10 lakhs in case of businesses operating in the North-Eastern states.

GST registration can be done in different forms. It can be for a person who does not have a business address as well as for an entity that has operations in different parts of the country.

Different types of Entities under GST

Casual Entity

In the case of casual entity, there is no fixed place of business. The supplies goods or provide services in territories possible where GST is applicable.

Composition Dealers

Where the annual turnover of taxpayers and small businesses is up to Rs 50 Lakhs. They can register under the composition scheme where they need to maintain less records.

These entities will have to file returns every quarter instead of filing 3 returns every month and 1 annual return. These entities can neither issue taxable invoices to their customers nor claim input tax credits. They will have to pay tax from their own coffers.

What is the importance of doing GST registration?

• Since 1st July, only GST is being charged.
• Taxpayers registered under state VAT or Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) switched to the GST platform for filing all taxes and share information with taxation authorities.
• Once a person registers at the GST portal, he gets a Goods and Services Taxpayer Identification Number (GSTIN) which would be used to store his details and taxation history.
• This number would be used for all administrative and compliance purposes.
• It is expected that 8 million taxpayers would be migrating from different platforms to GST.

Process of Online GST registration

1.  Go to the GST Login Portal at https://www.gst.gov.in/

2. Fill up the Part-A form and provide your PAN, mobile number and email address. Fill up the Part-A form and provide your PAN, mobile number and email address.

3. Fill up the Part-A form and provide your PAN, mobile number and email address.

4.  The portal would verify the mobile number and email id by sending OTP and verification mail.

5. Once verified, you will get the Temporary Reference Number (TRN) on both e-mail and mobile

6. Now fill Part-B of the GST registration form using the received TRN.

7. After that, the GST officer would do the verification of the application and approve it within three working days.

8. Once approved, you will get the GST registration certificate.

9. In case the GST officer does not approve the application and asks for more documents in support of claims made in the application, you need to provide the required documents within seven working days.

Documents required for GST registration 

Different entities may be required to furnish documents for GST Registration to upload on the GST Portal. One can find the list of required documents on the GST Portal itself.

Step 1- From the ‘HELP section ‘on the bottom of the page, click on ‘Documents Required for Registration’ and you will be redirected to the page.

Step 2

Make selection of the type of your business. The options include-

• Partnership
• Local Authority
• Limited Liability Partnership
• Public Limited Company
• Public Sector Undertaking
• Private Limited Company
• Hindu Undivided Family
• Sole Proprietorship
• Unlimited Company
• Statutory Body
• Government Department
• Foreign Company
• Foreign Limited Liability Partnership
• Society/Club/Trust/AOP
• Others

Step 3

Select the Nature of Possession of Premises. The options include-

• Consent
• Leased
• Others
• Owned
• Rented
• Shared
  

Once you select these two, a complete table will be available that shows the documents that you can upload as different proofs.

How to Check the GST Registration Status?

Step 1- Go to the GST Portal- https://www.gst.gov.in/

Step 2- Click on the ‘Services’ tab.

Step 3- Click on the ‘Registration’ option from the drop-down. Click on the ‘Track Application Status’ option.

Step 4- Enter the ARN (Application Reference Number) received at the time of registration.

You can now see the status of your application on the screen.

GSTIN

• GSTIN is a unique 15-digit alphanumeric code given to all taxpayers who have undergone with the process of GST registration.
• The government has ensured that everything under GST is digital which brings maximum transparency and minimum corruption.
• GST is aimed to eventually to reduce tax evasion.
• The first two digits of the GST registration number represent the state code which is given as per the 2011 census.
• The next 10 digits are the PAN number of the entity.
• The thirteenth digit assigned signifies the entity number of the same PAN holder in the state.
• The fourteenth digit would be Z by default.
• The last digit is for check sum digit.

Migrating to the GST Platform

• Earlier taxpayers and dealers are paying VAT and now with the implementation of GST, migrated to GST platform from system of VAT.
• To migrate to the GST platform, CBED and state VAT authorities issue provisional IDs and password to registered users. These IDs are issued only to those users who have their PAN registered with authorities.
• Provisional ID is not provided to businesses having an invalid PAN registered with Central Excise/State Tax authorities. If the taxation authority already issued the provisional ID and the persona would request for issuing new ID, then it would not be provided one.
• In case there are multiple registrations under the same PAN in a state, the authority would issue only one provisional ID and that too for only the first registration in the alphabetical order.
• The person has to login to the GST portal at https://www.gst.gov.in/ using the provisional ID and password provided by the tax authority.
• He must duly fill and submit Form 20 along with the required documents.

Penalties for GST registration failure

• All those who fails to make a registration under GST will have to pay a penalty of 10% of the tax amount or Rs 10,000 whichever is more.
• This will be applicable to defaulters for not paying tax partially or completely.
• In  the case of a deliberate fraud, the penalty can be as high as 100% of the tax due.

Registrations under GST

• Entities who were having multiple businesses in a state; can register for each business separately.
• PAN would be mandatory in each case.
• In the case of a non-residents, GST registration can be done based on other documents.
• Registrations rejected under CGST Act would not be approved under SGST Act and vice versa.

How to Get GST Certificate?

Users can download their GST Certificate from GST Portal. No physical certificate is issued by the government and it can only be downloaded from the portal. The steps are given below-

Step 1- Login to the GST Portal

Step 2- Click on the ‘Services’ tab.

Step 3- From the drop down, select the ‘User Services’ tab and you will be able to see the option ‘View/Download Certificates’. Click on it.

Step 4- You will be able to see your GST Registrations.

Step 5- Download the same by clicking on the download sign.

Structure of the GST Certificate 

• The GST certificate includes all details related to the business. On the first page, basic details like name, address, and date of registration of the business are displayed. 
  
• The second page would show the details of any additional places of business that you have mentioned. 
• The third page shows details of the person in charge of the business.