Goods and Service Tax registration (GSTIN)

Goods and Service Tax (GST) is a landmark legislation which has subsumed most of the indirect taxes in the country. Its remains a work in progress and some of the recent amendments have been contrary to the initial spirit of seamless credit and ease of business. However still GST registration remains a must to get input credit and sometimes highly recommended to do business in India.

The process of GST registration is as follows:

1. Generation of a temporary reference number (TRN) after validation of the email and mobile number.
2. Generation of ARN (Request number) after the GSTR- REG-1 (form for registration) is submitted and validated for PAN records.
3. Aadhar authentication by promoters (though optional, this is highly desirable as it substantially reduces the time for registration)
4. GST officer, once satisfied with the application, shall issue the GST certificate in GST – REG 06 form. 
5. If there are any queries raised by the officer, then the same needs to be addressed before the GST certificate is issued.

The documents to be shared are generally as follows:

1. Tax and other regulatory registration documents like certificate of incorporation/ registration, Deed etc.
2. Authorisation letters
3. Certified true copy of resolution passed by Directors/ Designated Partners of Company/ Firm/ LLP
4. Address proof- Rent agreement, consent letter from the owner or other ownership documents

GST registration was rather simple in the first 3 years. However, in the past year or so, it has become complicated because of following:

1. Requests for documents by field officers which are not actually required in the original Act/ Rules but insisted upon.
2. Provision for field visit by GST officer in absence of aadhar authentication
3. Rejection of registration application without proper scrutiny of documents

The Indirect Tax team at Entrecap Business Services has vast experience in GST registration in the states of Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. We shall be pleased to insist all tax payers/ entrepreneurs who wish to get registration under the GST Act.

You can read further about GST consultancy here