GST Registration

Overview: what GST registration is

GST registration gives your business a 15-digit Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN) that legally authorises you to collect GST from customers and claim input tax credit on your purchases. It is the entry point into the formal indirect-tax system and, for most growing businesses, the single most important registration after PAN.

Registration is granted state-wise and PAN-based, so a business operating across multiple states needs a separate GSTIN for each. The application is filed online in Form GST REG-01, and once verified, the GSTIN and registration certificate (REG-06) are issued digitally. There is no government fee for registration itself — what you pay is for getting the application clean the first time so it is not rejected or queried.

Who needs to register for GST

You must register once your aggregate turnover crosses ₹40 lakh for goods or ₹20 lakh for services in a normal state (₹20 lakh and ₹10 lakh respectively in special-category states). A large group of businesses, however, must register from day one irrespective of turnover.

• E-commerce sellers supplying through Amazon, Flipkart or their own platform
• Anyone making inter-state taxable supplies of goods
• Casual taxable persons and non-resident taxable persons
• Businesses liable to pay tax under reverse charge
• Agents, input service distributors and those supplying on behalf of others
• Voluntary registrants who want ITC and B2B credibility below the threshold

Step-by-step registration process

We begin by confirming the right registration category — regular versus composition — because that decision affects your tax rate, your ability to claim ITC and whether you can sell inter-state. Next we collect and validate your PAN, Aadhaar, photographs, address proof and bank details, and prepare the REG-01 application.

After submission, an Application Reference Number (ARN) is generated so progress can be tracked. Aadhaar authentication, where opted, speeds approval significantly; without it the officer may require physical verification of the place of business. If the department raises a clarification in REG-03, we draft and file the REG-04 response on your behalf, and the GSTIN is issued on approval.

Documents required for GST registration

• PAN of the business or proprietor
• Aadhaar of the proprietor, partners or directors
• Passport-size photographs
• Proof of place of business — rent agreement, electricity bill or ownership document with NOC
• Bank account proof — cancelled cheque or bank statement
• Constitution proof — partnership deed or certificate of incorporation

Composition vs regular scheme

The composition scheme lets small taxpayers (turnover up to ₹1.5 crore for goods, ₹50 lakh for eligible services) pay tax at a low flat rate with minimal filing, but they cannot claim input tax credit, cannot make inter-state sales, and cannot collect GST from customers. The regular scheme allows full ITC and inter-state supply but requires monthly returns. We model both against your margins and growth plans before recommending one.

Penalties for not registering

Operating without registration when you are liable attracts a penalty of 10% of the tax due (subject to a minimum of ₹10,000), rising to 100% of the tax where evasion is deliberate. You also lose the right to collect GST and to claim input tax credit for the unregistered period, which can be far costlier than the penalty itself. Registering on time — and correctly — simply removes this exposure.

Why register with TCC

Our experts handle the entire application, respond to every departmental query, and get the category right the first time, so you are not stuck with a composition registration when you needed regular, or vice versa. It is a fixed-fee service with WhatsApp-first updates, and we move straight into clean monthly return filing once your GSTIN is live — no handoff, no gap.