Q 1. What is
advantage of taking registration in GST?
Ans.
Registration under Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime will confer following
advantages to the business:
• Legally
recognized as supplier of goods or services.
• Proper
accounting of taxes paid on the input goods or services which can be utilized
for payment of GST due on supply of goods or services or both by the business.
• Legally
authorized to collect tax from his purchasers and pass on the credit of the
taxes paid on the goods or services supplied to purchasers or recipients.
• Getting
eligible to avail various other benefits and privileges rendered under the GST
laws.
Q 2. Can a
person without GST registration claim ITC and collect tax?
Ans. No, a
person without GST registration can neither collect GST from his customers nor
can claim any input tax credit of GST paid by him.
Q 3. What will
be the effective date of registration?
Ans. Where the
application for registration has been submitted within thirty days from the
date on which the person becomes liable to registration, the effective date of
registration shall be the date on which he became liable for registration.
Where an
application for registration has been submitted by the applicant after thirty
days from the date of his becoming liable to registration, the effective date
of registration shall be the date of grant of registration.
In case of a
person taking registration voluntarily while being within the threshold
exemption limit for paying tax, the effective date of registration shall be the
date of order of registration.
Q 4. Who are the
persons liable to take a Registration under the Model GST Law?
Ans. As per
Section 22 of the CGST/SGST Act 2017, every supplier (including his agent) who
makes a taxable supply i.e. supply of goods and / or services which are
leviable to tax under GST law, and his aggregate turn over in a financial year
exceeds the threshold limit of twenty lakh rupees shall be liable to register
himself in the State or the Union territory of Delhi or Puducherry from where
he makes the taxable supply.
In case of
eleven special category states (as mentioned in Art.279A(4)(g) of the Constitution
of India), this threshold limit for registration liability is ten lakh rupees.
Besides, Section
24 of the Act mentions certain categories of suppliers, who shall be liable to
take registration even if their aggregate turnover is below the said threshold
limit of 20 lakh rupees.
On the other
hand, as per Section 23 of the Act, an agriculturist in respect of supply of
his agricultural produce; as also any person exclusively making supply of
non-taxable or wholly exempted goods and/or services under GST law will not be
liable for registration.
Q 5. What is
aggregate turnover?
Ans. As per
section 2(6) of the CGST/SGST Act “aggregate turnover” includes the aggregate
value of:
(i) all taxable
supplies,
(ii) all exempt
supplies,
(iii) exports of
goods and/or service, and,
(iv) all
inter-state supplies
of a person
having the same PAN.
The above shall
be computed on all India basis and excludes taxes charged under the CGST Act,
SGST Act, UTGST Act, and the IGST Act. Aggregate turnover shall include all
supplies made by the Taxable person, whether on his own account or made on
behalf of all his principals.
Aggregate
turnover does not include value of supplies on which tax is levied on reverse
charge basis, and value of inward supplies.
The value of
goods after completion of job work is not includible in the turnover of the
job-worker. It will be treated as supply of goods by the principal and will
accordingly be includible in the turnover of the Principal.
Q 6. Which are
the cases in which registration is compulsory?
Ans. As per Section
24 of the CGST/SGST Act, the following categories of persons shall be required
to be registered compulsorily irrespective of the threshold limit:
i) persons
making any inter-State taxable supply;
ii) casual
taxable persons;
iii) persons who
are required to pay tax under reverse charge;
iv) electronic
commerce operators required to pay tax under sub-section (5) of section 9;
v) non-resident
taxable persons;
vi) persons who
are required to deduct tax under section 51;
vii) persons who
supply goods and/or services on behalf of other registered taxable persons
whether as an agent or otherwise;
viii) Input
service distributor (whether or not separately registered under the Act)
ix) persons who
are required to collect tax under section 52;
x) every
electronic commerce operator
xi) every person
supplying online information and data base retrieval services from a place
outside India to a person in India, other than a registered person; and,
xii) 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.
Q 7. What is the
time limit for taking a Registration under GST?
Ans. A person
should take a Registration, within thirty days from the date on which he becomes
liable to registration, in such manner and subject to such conditions as is
prescribed under the Registration Rules. A Casual Taxable person and a
non-resident taxable person should however apply for registration at least 5
days prior to commencement of business.
Q 8. If a person
is operating in different states, with the same PAN number, whether he can
operate with a single Registration?
Ans. No. Every
person who is liable to take a Registration will have to get registered
separately for each of the States where he has a business operation and is
liable to pay GST in terms of Sub-section (1) of Section 22 of the CGST/SGST
Act.
Q 9. Whether a
person having multiple business verticals in a state can obtain for different
registrations?
Ans. Yes. In terms
of the proviso to Sub-Section (2) of Section 25, a person having multiple
business verticals in a State may obtain a separate registration for each
business vertical, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.
Q 10. Is there a
provision for a person to get himself voluntarily registered though he may not
be liable to pay GST?
Ans. Yes. In
terms of Sub-section (3) of Section 25, a person, though not liable to be
registered under Section 22 may get himself registered voluntarily, and all
provisions of this Act, as are applicable to a registered taxable person, shall
apply to such person.
Q 11. Is
possession of a Permanent Account Number (PAN) mandatory for obtaining a
Registration?
Ans. Yes. As per
Section 25(6) of the CGST/SGST Act every person shall have a Permanent Account
Number issued under the Income Tax Act,1961(43 of 1961) in order to be eligible
for grant of registration.
However as per
the proviso to the aforesaid section 25(6), a person required to deduct tax
under Section 51, may have, in lieu of a PAN, a Tax Deduction and Collection
Account Number issued under the said Income Tax Act, in order to be eligible
for grant of registration.
Also, as per
Section 25(7) PAN is not mandatory for a non-resident taxable person who may be
granted registration on the basis of any other document as maybe prescribed.
Q 12. Whether
the Department through the proper officer, can suo-moto proceed to register of
a Person under this Act?
Ans. Yes. In
terms of sub-section (8) of Section 25, where a person who is liable to be
registered under this Act fails to obtain registration, the proper officer may,
without prejudice to any action which may be taken under this Act, or under any
other law for the time being in force, proceed to register such person in the
manner as is prescribed in the Registration rules.
13. Whether the
proper officer can reject an Application for Registration?
Ans. Yes. In
terms of sub-section 10 of section 25 of the CGST/SGST Act, the proper officer
can reject an application for registration after due verification.
Q 14. Whether
the Registration granted to any person is permanent?
Ans. Yes, the
registration Certificate once granted is permanent unless surrendered,
cancelled, suspended or revoked.
Q 15. Is it
necessary for the UN bodies to get registration under GST?
Ans. Yes. In
terms of Section 25(9) of the CGST/SGST Act, all notified UN bodies, Consulate
or Embassy of foreign countries and any other class of persons so notified
would be required to obtain a unique identification number (UIN) from the GST
portal. The structure of the said ID would be uniform across the States in
conformity with GSTIN structure and the same will be common for the Centre and
the States. This UIN will be needed for claiming refund of taxes paid on
notified supplies of goods and services received by them, and for any other
purpose as may be notified.
Q 16. What is
the responsibility of the taxable person supplying to UN bodies?
Ans. The taxable
supplier supplying to these organizations is expected to mention the UIN on the
invoices and treat such supplies as supplies to another registered person (B2B)
and the invoices of the same will be uploaded by the supplier.
Q 17. Is it
necessary for the Govt. Organization to get registration?
Ans. A unique
identification number (ID) would be given by the respective state tax
authorities through GST portal to Government authorities / PSUs not making
outwards supplies of GST goods (and thus not liable to obtain GST registration)
but are making inter-state purchases.
Q 18. Who is a
Casual Taxable Person?
Ans. Casual
Taxable Person has been defined in Section 2 (20) of the CGST/SGST Act meaning
a person who occasionally undertakes transactions involving supply of goods
and/or services in the course or furtherance of business, whether as principal,
or agent or in any other capacity, in a State or a Union territory where he has
no fixed place of business.
Q 19. Who is a
Non-resident Taxable Person?
Ans. In terms of
Section 2(77) of the CGST/SGST Act, a non-resident taxable person means any
person who occasionally undertakes transactions involving supply of goods
and/or services whether as principal or agent or in any other capacity, but who
has no fixed place of business or residence in India.
Q 20. What is
the validity period of the Registration certificate issued to a Casual Taxable
Person and non- Resident Taxable person?
Ans. In terms of
Section 27(1) read with proviso thereto, the certificate of registration issued
to a “casual taxable person” or a “non-resident taxable person” shall be valid for
a period specified in the application for registration or ninety days from the
effective date of registration, whichever is earlier. However, the proper
officer, at the request of the said taxable person, may extend the validity of
the aforesaid period of ninety days by a further period not exceeding ninety
days.
Q 21. Is there
any Advance tax to be paid by a Casual Taxable Person and Non-resident Taxable
Person at the time of obtaining registration under this Special Category?
Ans. Yes. While
a normal taxable person does not have to make any advance deposit of tax to
obtain registration, a casual taxable person or a non-resident taxable person
shall, at the time of submission of application for registration is required,
in terms of Section 27(2) read with proviso thereto, make an advance deposit of
tax in an amount equivalent to the estimated tax liability of such person for
the period for which the registration is sought. If registration is to be
extended beyond the initial period of ninety days, an advance additional amount
of tax equivalent to the estimated tax liability is to be deposited for the
period for which the extension beyond ninety days is being sought.
Q 22. Whether
Amendments to the Registration Certificate is permissible?
Ans. Yes. In
terms of Section 28, the proper officer may, on the basis of such information
furnished either by the registrant or as ascertained by him, approve or reject
amendments in the registration particulars within a period of 15 common working
days from the date of receipt of application for amendment.
It is to be
noted that permission of the proper officer for making amendments will be
required for only certain core fields of information, whereas for the other
fields, the certificate of registration shall stand amended upon submission of
application in the GST common portal.
Q 23. Whether
Cancellation of Registration Certificate is permissible?
Ans. Yes. Any
Registration granted under this Act may be cancelled by the Proper Officer, in
circumstances mentioned in Section 29 of the CGST/SGST Act. The proper officer
may, either on his own motion or on an application filed, in the prescribed
manner, by the registered taxable person or by his legal heirs, in case of
death of such person, cancel the registration, in such manner and within such
period as may be prescribed. As per the Registration Rules, an order for
cancellation is to be issued within 30 days from the date of receipt of reply
to SCN (in cases where the cancellation is proposed to be carried out suo moto
by the proper officer) or from the date of receipt of application for
cancellation (in case where the taxable person/legal heir applies for such
cancellation)
Q 24. Whether
cancellation of Registration under CGST Act means cancellation under SGST Act
also?
Ans. Yes, the
cancellation of registration under one Act (say CGST Act) shall be deemed to be
a cancellation of registration under the other Act (i.e. SGST Act). (Section 29
(4))
Q 25. Can the
proper Officer Cancel the Registration on his own?
Ans. Yes, in
certain circumstances specified under section 29(2) of the CGST/SGST Act, the
proper officer can cancel the registration on his own. Such circumstances
include contravention of any of the prescribed provisions of the CGST Act or
the rules made there under, not filing return by a composition dealer for three
consecutive tax periods or non-furnishing of returns by a regular taxpayer for
a continuous period of six months, and not commencing business within six
months from the date of voluntary registration. However, before cancelling the
registration, the proper officer has to follow the principles of natural
justice. (proviso to Section 29(2)(e))
Q 26. What
happens when the registration is obtained by means of willful mis-statement,
fraud or suppression of facts?
Ans. In such
cases, the registration may be cancelled with retrospective effect by the
proper officer. (Section 29(2)(e))
Q 27. Is there
an option to take centralized registration for services under GST Law?
Ans. No, the tax
paper has to take separate registration in every state from where he makes
taxable supplies.
Q 28. If the
taxpayer has different business verticals in one state, will he have to obtain
separate registration for each such vertical in the state?
Ans. No, however
the taxpayer has the option to register such separate business verticals
independently in terms of the proviso to Section 25(2) of the CGTST Act, 2017.
Q 29. Who is an
ISD?
Ans. ISD stands
for Input Service Distributor and has been defined under Section 2(61) of the
CGST/SGST Act. It is basically an office meant to receive tax invoices towards
receipt of input services and further distribute the credit to supplier units
(having the same PAN) proportionately.
Q 30. Will ISD
be required to be separately registered other than the existing tax payer
registration?
Ans. Yes, the
ISD registration is for one office of the taxpayer which will be different from
the normal registration.
Q 31. Can a tax
payer have multiple ISDs?
Ans. Yes.
Different offices of a tax payer can apply for ISD registration.
Q 32. What could
be the liabilities (in so far as registration is concerned) on transfer of a
business?
Ans. The
transferee or the successor shall be liable to be registered with effect from
such transfer or succession and he will have to obtain a fresh registration
with effect from the date of such transfer or succession. (Section 22(3)).
Q 33. Whether
all assesses / dealers who are already registered under existing central
excise/service tax/ vat laws will have to obtain fresh registration?
Ans. No, GSTN
shall migrate all such assessees/dealers to the GSTN network and shall issue a
provisional registration certificate with GSTIN number on the appointed day,
which after due verification by the departmental officers within six months,
will be converted into final registration certificate. For converting the
provisional registration to final registration the registrants will be asked to
submit all requisite documents and information required for registration in a
prescribed period of time. Failure to do so will result in cancellation of the
provisional GSTIN number.
The service tax
assesses having centralized registration will have to apply afresh in the
respective states wherever they have their businesses.
Q 34. Whether
the job worker will have to be compulsorily registered?
Ans. No, a Job
worker is a supplier of services and will be obliged to take registration only
when his turnover crosses the prescribed threshold of 20/10 Lakhs.
Q 35. Whether
the goods will be permitted to be supplied from the place of business of a job
worker?
Ans. Yes. But
only in cases where the job worker is registered, or if not, the principal
declares the place of business of the job worker as his additional place of
business.
Q 36. At the
time of registration will the assessee have to declare all his places of
business?
Ans. Yes. The
principal place of business and place of business have been separately defined
under section 2(89) & 2(85) of the CGST/SGST Act respectively. The taxpayer
will have to declare the principal place of business as well as the details of
additional places of business in the registration form.
Q 37. Is there
any system to facilitate smaller dealers or dealers having no IT
infrastructure?
Ans. In order to
cater to the needs of tax payers who are not IT savvy, following facilities
shall be made available: -
Tax Return
Preparer(TRP): A taxable person may prepare his registration application
/returns himself or can approach the TRP for assistance. TRP will prepare the
said registration document / return in prescribed format on the basis of the
information furnished to him by the taxable person. The legal responsibility of
the correctness of information contained in the forms prepared by the TRP will
rest with the taxable person only and the TRP shall not be liable for any
errors or incorrect information.
Facilitation
Centre (FC): shall be responsible for the digitization and/or uploading of the
forms and documents including summary sheet duly signed by the Authorized
Signatory and given to it by the taxable person. After uploading the data on
common portal using the ID and Password of FC, a print-out of acknowledgement
will be taken and signed by the FC and handed over to the taxable person for
his records. The FC will scan and upload the summary sheet duly signed by the
Authorized Signatory.
Q 38. Is there
any facility for digital signature in the GSTN registration?
Ans. Tax payers
would have the option to sign the submitted application using valid digital
signatures. There will be two options for electronically signing the
application or other submissions- by e-signing through Aadhar number, or
through DSC i.e. by registering the tax payer’s digital signature certificate
with GST portal. However, companies or limited liability partnership entities
will have to sign mandatorily through DSC only. Only level 2 and level 3 DSC
certificates will be acceptable for signature purpose.
Q 39. What will
be the time limit for the decision on the on line registration application?
Ans. If the
information and the uploaded documents are found in order, the State and the
Central authorities shall have to respond to the application within three
common working days. If they communicate any deficiency or discrepancy in the
application within such time, then the applicant will have to remove the
discrepancy / deficiency within 7 days of such communication. Thereafter, for
either approving the application or rejecting it, the State and the Central
authorities will have 7 days from the date when the taxable person communicates
removal of deficiencies. In case no response is given by the departmental authorities
within the said time line, the portal shall automatically generate the
registration.
Q 40. What will
be the time of response by the applicant if any query is raised in the online
application?
Ans. If during
the process of verification, one of the tax authorities raises some query or
notices some error, the same shall be communicated to the applicant and to the
other tax authority through the GST Common Portal within 3 common working days.
The applicant will reply to the query/rectify the error/ answer the query
within a period of seven days from the date of receipt of deficiency
intimation.
On receipt of
additional document or clarification, the relevant tax authority will respond
within seven common working days from the date of receipt of clarification.
Q 41. What is
the process of refusal of registration?
Ans. In case
registration is refused, the applicant will be informed about the reasons for
such refusal through a speaking order. The applicant shall have the right to
appeal against the decision of the Authority. As per sub-section (2) of section
26 of the CGST Act, any rejection of application for registration by one
authority (i.e. under the CGST Act / SGST Act) shall be deemed to be a
rejection of application for registration by the other tax authority (i.e.
under the SGST Act / UTGST Act/ CGST Act).
Q 42. Will there
be any communication related to the application disposal?
Ans. The
applicant shall be informed of the fact of grant or rejection of his
registration application through an e-mail and SMS by the GST common portal.
Jurisdictional details would be intimated to the applicant at this stage.
Q 43. Can the
registration certificate be downloaded from the GSTN portal?
Ans. In case
registration is granted; applicant can download the Registration Certificate
from the GST common portal.
Q 44. Can
cancellation of registration order be revoked?
Ans. Yes, but
only in cases where the initial cancellation has been done by the proper
officer suo moto, and not on the request of the taxable person or his legal
heirs. A person whose registration has been cancelled suo moto can apply to the
proper officer for revocation of cancellation of registration within 30 days
from the date of communication of the cancellation order. The proper officer
may within a period of 30 days from the date of receipt of application for revocation
of cancellation or receipt of information/clarification, either revoke the
cancellation or reject the application for revocation of cancellation of
registration.
Q 45. Does
cancellation of registration impose any tax obligations on the person whose
registration is so cancelled?
Ans. Yes, as per
Section 29(5) of the CGST/SGST Act, every registered taxable person whose
registration is cancelled shall pay an amount, by way of debit in the
electronic cash ledger, 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 or capital goods or plant and machinery on the day immediately
preceding the date of such cancellation or the output tax payable on such
goods, whichever is higher.
Q 46. What is
the difference between casual and non-resident taxable persons?
|
Ans. Casual
and Non-resident taxable persons are separately defined in the CGST/SGST Act
in Sections 2(20) and 2(77) respectively. Some of the differences are
outlined below: Casual Taxable Person
|
Non-resident
Taxable Person
|
|
Occasional
undertakes transactions involving supply of goods or services in a state or
UT where he has no fixed place of business.
|
Occasional
undertakes transactions involving supply of goods or services but has no
fixed place of business residence in India.
|
