GST Registration for E-commerce 2023: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a comprehensive indirect tax levied on the supply of goods and services in India and has replaced various other indirect taxes such as value-added tax (VAT) and service tax. As per the GST law, any person or business that engages in the supply of goods or services irrespective of their annual turnover must register for GST. For e-commerce operators, such as online marketplaces, they are required to collect and remit the GST on behalf of the sellers registered on their platform. Currently, it is mandatory for businesses to be GST-registered to sell on e-commerce platforms in India.
Importantly, the government in June last year had announced that businesses with a turnover of up to Rs 40 lakh selling via e-commerce won’t have to apply for GST. However, this applied to only the intra-state supply of goods instead of inter-state supplies.
Also read: 6 years of GST: 88% MSMEs see reduced cost of goods and services, says Deloitte survey
The GST registration waiver also applied to e-commerce sellers with turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore registered under the GST composition scheme. The scheme aimed at reducing the compliance cost for small taxpayers with lower tax rates of 2 per cent of turnover for manufacturers, 1 per cent for traders, and 5 per cent for restaurant businesses.
Here’s the GST registration process for e-commerce sellers
- Visit gst.gov.in; go to Services>Registration>New Registration
- The new registration form will come up; select Taxpayer under ‘I am a’ dropdown and share other details such as location, legal name of the business, PAN, email ID and mobile number. Enter the captcha and click on ‘Proceed’
- Verify OTP on mobile and email and click on ‘Proceed’
- This was Part A of the registration process
- Your Temporary Reference Number (TRN) will be generated. Click on ‘Proceed’
- Enter your TRN, captcha and click on ‘Proceed’
- Verify the OTP again and click on ‘Proceed’
- Your saved application will appear with an expiry date of around 15 days; Click on ‘Action’
- Now you have to complete your profile on the portal which has 10 fields – Business Details, Promoter, Authorised Signatory, Authorised Representative, Principal Place of Business, Additional Places of Business, Goods and Services, State Specific Information, Aadhaar Authentication and Verification
- Once all details are filled in, select the name of the authorized signatory from the ‘Name of Authorized Signatory’ drop-down list
- In the Place field, enter the place where the form was filed, for example, Delhi, Mumbai etc.
Also read: MSME Guide: How to start and run your business in India
- The application now needs to be digitally signed using Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) or e-sign wherein OTP will be sent to the Aadhaar-registered mobile number or e-verification code (EVC) wherein OTP will be sent to the registered mobile number
- Message for application ‘Success’ will be displayed
- You will receive acknowledgement of the successful application on your registered mobile number and email ID with the Application Reference Number (ARN)
- The status of your application can be tracked under ‘Track Application Status’ on the GST portal
- The registration takes around six days to assign the 15-digit Goods and Services Taxpayer Identification Number (GSTIN) and registration certificate in Form GST REG-06