Goods and Services Tax was introduced in India in 2017 in a bid to implement the “one nation, one tax” regime in the country. Under this taxation regime, about 17 indirect taxes were subsumed to boost the performance of India’s manufacturing sector and ease the compliance burden of multiple taxations.
According to the Economic Times, the number of businesses seeking GST registration, to avail of the benefits of this taxation system is around 11.2 million, which is considerably higher than that of 6.4 million under the previous taxation regime. Thus, India’s overall tax base has expanded to quite an extent with the implementation of GST.
For individuals or companies who still haven’t registered under this system of taxation, following is an elaboration on how to register for GST online.
What is GST?
GST is an indirect tax levied on goods and services and is defined as a multi-stage, comprehensive and destination-based tax. All goods and services in India are divided into 5 slabs for the purpose of tax collection of the following percentages – 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.
Under this taxation regime, any business with a turnover exceeding Rs. 40 Lakh is required to register themselves as a normal taxable entity. This process is known as GST registration. It is mandatory for most businesses to undergo this registration procedure and obtain their unique PAN-based identification number, known as, GSTIN.
If businesses with a mandate for Goods and Service Tax registration, like GST on gold, carry on their business without doing the same, they can be heavily penalised for it.
How can one register for this tax?
Individuals can follow the steps below to learn how to register for GST online through the official government portal–
Part-A
- Visit the official Goods and Services Tax portal.
- Go to the tab marked “Services” and select the option “Registration” under it. From there you will need to visit the tab “New Registration. ”
- You will then be directed to the respective registration page.
- There, you will have to fill out the form of GST REG-01 with requisite details like your business’ name, email address, state, PAN card number, etc.
- You will then be required to verify the information by submitting the OTP sent to your registered mobile number.
- Upon verification, you will be provided with a Temporary Reference Number or TRN to proceed on to the next part of registration.
Part -B
- To start with the second part of the registration process, you will need to log in with the provided TRN number to verify your details.
- Next, you will need to submit the requisite business details like PAN, company name, business commencement date, etc.
- You will then have to submit the details of the individual authorised to file your GST returns. You will also require to learn how to file GST returns online to do the same before the respective due date.
- Next, upload the necessary documents required, based on the type of your business.
- After you finish filling up the necessary details, you will have to save them, sign the form digitally and submit it.
- After you have successfully submitted all the details, you will receive an Application Registration Number or ARN as a confirmation of your registration.
After registering successfully, you will receive the identification number and registration certificate, downloadable from the online portal.
Advantages of GST –
The implementation of this tax regime has brought several advantages for business owners. For instance, it helps to eliminate the cascading effects of various indirect taxes, thus reducing tax liability on business owners of all stature.
It has also enabled small companies to enjoy the advantage of benefitting from the input tax credit, thus enabling them to save on the total corpus of taxes paid. Therefore with this amount saved and the easy availability of government-backed funding schemes like Mudra loan, subsidised business loans, etc. business owners now have a much higher scope of expanding their companies than before.
Additionally, the implementation of this tax regime has brought every other tax under the same umbrella of GST rates in India, reducing tax compliances. Therefore, for individuals who still haven’t completed their GST registration, it is crucial to do so immediately, to avail the above-mentioned advantages and avoid legal consequences.
