Registration Under GST

Who is liable to be registered?

All contractors, subcontractors, developers and land owner (in case of units allotted to land owner
in form of consideration against land and land owner has sold the units further before issue of
completion certificate), whether they are companies, partnerships or selfemployed individuals
are liable to be registered if their annual turnover involving taxable supplies exceed Rs. 9 lakhs (Rs.
4 lakhs in case of NorthEast States including Sikkim) GST threshold in any financial year
within a period of 30 days. This limit has presently been described under the Draft GST Law and
may change based on final rounds of negotiations between States and Centre.
Example: Mr. A (in Gujarat) supplied the following services in previous financial year.

Turnover for
Supplies Turnover Threshold Limit
Taxable
4,00,000
(including Inter-State)
Case - I :
Exempt 15,00,000
Contractor Rs. 10,00,000/-
Supplies to SEZ* 1,00,000
Export* 5,00,000
Sale of units before
Completion 10,00,000
Certificate
Case - II : Sale of units after
Rs. 18,00,000/-
Developer Completion 6,00,000
Certificate
Other Taxable
2,00,000
Incomes
Sale of units before
Completion 4,00,000
Certificate
Case - II :
Sale of units after
Land Rs. 12,50,000/-
Completion 8,00,000
Owner
Certificate
Other Taxable
50,000
Incomes

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*Supplies to SEZ & Export Supplies will be included as taxable turnover with the zero
rated supplies.

Whether registration would be necessary in case a person is registered under earlier law?

Every person who, on the day immediately preceding the appointed day, is registered or
holds a license under an earlier law, shall be liable to be registered under GST Law as per the
clause 2 of Schedule III. Hence if a contractor, subcontractor, developer and land owner is
registered under service tax, VAT, Excise, CST or any other earlier laws, prior to GST, they
would be liable to be registered under GST Law. However it may be noted that government
plans to issue new numbers against all the existing registration numbers without there being
need for separate application in that regard.
Example : M/s ABC is a contractor who is currently having several registrations under the
Indirect Tax laws. For his current registration numbers he shall be required to take action as
below:
Current Governmen Furthe
Number Jurisdiction t response r action required from
under GST contractor
Service Tax India Issuance of New CGST Continue with New number
(Centralized Registration number
Registration)
Excise Bhopal Factory Issuance of New CGST Has an option to surrender if not
Registration number required separately for the factory. If
required then it has to be proved as a
separate business vertical as per laid
down guidelines of Accounting
Standards.
VAT Madhya Pradesh Issuance of New Madhya Continue with New number
Pradesh SGST
Registration number
CST Madhya Pradesh Issuance of New IGST Continue with New Number
Registration number
VAT Gujarat Issuance of New Gujarat Continue with New number
SGST Registration
number
CST Gujarat Issuance of New IGST Continue with the new number
Registration number

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What if I start a new construction site in a New State? In that case when do I need to
register myself? Do I need to again take all the three numbers i.e. CGST, SGST and IGST?
The new business is liable to be registered upon crossing the threshold turnover in every such
State within thirty days from the date on which it becomes liable to registration.

A person, though not liable to be registered may get himself registered voluntarily, and all
provisions of this Act, as are applicable to a registered taxable person, shall apply to such
person. Hence one may choose to register from the day one itself if it is expected to cross the
threshold in short time.
If the said construction site is treated as a separate business vertical and if you desire to have
separate CGST, SGST and IGST numbers for the same, you may apply accordingly. In any
case since its a new state, you will be compulsorily required to obtain a SGST number
 .

Q11: What is the procedure to get registered?

As far as the current model law is concerned, the relevant rules for the registration under
GST have so far not come out in the public domain. It is expected that the GST rules may be
issued for incorporating the procedures of registration under GST. The discussions hereunder
are based on the Report of the Joint Committee on Business Processes for GST on Registration
Process which was finalized on 22nd and 23rd July 2015. For obtaining registration, all the
taxable persons shall interact with tax authorities through a common portal called GST
Common Portal that would be set up by Goods and / or services Tax Network (GSTN).
The portal will have backend integration with the respective IT systems of the Centre and
States. A new applicant would be allowed to apply for registration without prior enrolment. A
Facilitation Centre (FC) has also been perceived where 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 printout 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. This
system is in line with the practice that is in vogue for submitting TDS returns by more than 2
million tax deductors to the Income Tax Department.

Whether any temporary registration is available for small projects being undertaken in
any new state which may automatically get cancelled in some time? What will be the
validity of such registration?
As per the Model GST Law, casual taxable persons and nonresidents shall be allowed
to take a casual registration as per the special provisions relating to casual taxable person
and non resident taxable person under clause 19A.
A supplier who is not registered on regular basis, whether on mandatory or voluntary basis, in
other
State (s) and desires to conduct business in a particular State for a limited period, will have to
obtain registration in that State for that limited period. Such suppliers are known as casual dealers
and shall not be allowed to opt for composition scheme. However, the supplier would be eligible to
claim ITC on purchases / inward supplies. The period of registration would be mentioned in the
registration certificate also. The format of Registration Certificate for such taxpayers is different
from the regular taxpayers. Even the application form for registration will have field for
ascertaining estimated supplies. Return for such taxpayers would also be different. Such taxpayers
would be required to selfassess their likely liability and deposit the
same as an Advance Tax. Such amount would be deposited by way of two Demand Drafts (one
for Centre and other for State) which would be returned to the taxpayer after he has discharged
his final liability. The GST Law Drafting Committee may provide for conditions for
registration and tax payment.
A Nonresident Supplier is a person who, in the course of business, makes an intrastate
supply of goods or services or both, but is not a resident in the state in which he has applied for
registration, but is already registered in any other state. Since the NonResident Supplier is
already registered in another State, there would be an easy way of registering such entities in
the State in which registration is applied as NonResident Supplier.
It is relevant to note the definition of nonresident taxable as per clause 2 as under,

(21) nonresident taxable means 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;
The certificate of registration in such cases shall be valid for a period of ninety days from the
effective date of registration. The proper officer may, at the request, extend the aforesaid period
of ninety days by a further period not exceeding further ninety days.
However, such a casual taxable person / a nonresident shall be liable to make an advance
deposit of taxes of an amount equivalent to the estimated liability for the period of which the
registration is sought. Further if the extension time is sought maximum up to an additional 90
Days, an additional amount of tax equivalent to the estimated liability for the period for which
extension is sought. Such amount of advance deposit of tax shall be credited to the cash ledger
of the person.
In case of construction and real estate sector, contractor or developer, any contract or project
which can be completed within 90 days can apply for the nonresident registration provided
the fixed place of business is not available or place is not available for carrying out ordinary
business. However, it can be noted that the registration can only be available if there is no fixed
place of business of the contractors and developers.
Example: Mr. A, a resident of Bihar provides specialized industrial painting services at
following locations:

Expected
Registration Registration Registration
Supplies to States completion of
under CGST under IGST under SGST
services
Doing projects
Bihar on regular Regular Regular Regular
basis
Casual
Same as Same as
Gujarat Next 60 Days Taxable
above above
Person
Same as Same as
Rajasthan Next 180 Days Regular
above above
 Casual
Same as Same as
Karnataka Next 15 Days Taxable
above above
Person
Casual
Inter-state Sale Same as Same as
- Taxable
from Karnataka above above
Person

What if we close one construction site in a state and start another site. What will be the
procedure to change or amend the details in registration?
As per clause 20 of the Model Law, in case of amendment or changes in the registration, be a
change in place of registration or any other details, a person shall be required to inform
the proper officer of any changes in the information furnished at the time of registration. The
time limit for informing such changes has not been defined in the Model Law .

The proper officer, on the basis of information furnished on the amendments will approve or reject
such amendments. Before rejecting the application for the amendment, the proper officer shall issue
a notice to show cause and will provide an opportunity to person being heard.
It can be noted that any approval in amendment in the registration under CGST Act / SGST Act
shall be deemed to be the changes and amendment in the registration under SGST Act / CGST
Act as the case may be.
However, it is expected that for changes in some of the particulars of the registration which will
be prescribed, approval from the proper officer shall not be required and the registered person
can change such particulars without any hassle.

If I am providing construction services in different States, whether single centralized

registration like we currently have in service tax can be taken under GST or will I have to
get registered in all the states like we currently do under VAT?
As per the clause 19 of the Model GST Law, every person who is liable to be registered
under Schedule III of this Act shall apply for registration in every such State in which he is so
liable within thirty days from the date on which he becomes liable to registration. Thus if the
contractor or the developer provides the construction services in the different states, it shall be
liable to get registered in all such States where the services are to be provided. So effectively
you have a PAN India CGST and IGST numbers and state specific SGST number.

I am providing construction services at different sites within the same state. How
many registration numbers would be required to be obtained in the state?
For multiple sites within the same state, it may be possible to have the single SGST
registration apart from the Centralized CGST and IGST registration.
Q17: For a person supplying services & goods in different States, whether procedure for
the cancellation to be followed for all the registrations?
As per Clause 21 of the Model Law, cancellation of registration under the CGST Act / SGST
Act shall be deemed to be a cancellation of registration under the SGST Act / CGST Act.
Hence, if a contractor or developer cancels the registration in one State or registration under
CGST, all other registration applied in different States may be cancelled. Some proper
clarification may be required in this regard from the government as this may lead to practical
difficulties.

What if the authority has cancelled my registration on their own? Can I apply for
revocation of cancellation?
As per clause 22 of the Model Law, any person who has applied for the cancellation of
registration, may apply for revocation of cancellation of the registration in the prescribed manner
within thirty days from the date of service of the cancellation order. The proper officer may revoke
cancellation of the registration or reject the application for revocation for good and sufficient
reasons and shall not reject the application for revocation of cancellation of registration without
giving a notice to show cause and without giving the person a reasonable opportunity of being
heard. It can further be noted that the revocation of cancellation of registration under the CGST Act
/ SGST Act shall be deemed to be a revocation of cancellation of registration under the SGST Act /
CGST Act. Hence, if an authority revokes the cancellation of registration in one State or
registration under CGST, all other registration cancelled in different States shall be revoked and
will be reregistered.