GST Advisory & Registration

GST registration advisory is grounded in Sections 22 to 25 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017.

Section 22 — Threshold-based registration: Every supplier is liable to register in the State/Union Territory from which taxable supplies are made once aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds ₹40 lakh for suppliers exclusively engaged in the supply of goods, and ₹20 lakh for suppliers of services (or a mixture of goods and services). Notification No. 10/2019-Central Tax dated 7 March 2019 raised the goods threshold to ₹40 lakh (from ₹20 lakh), subject to specified exclusions (ice cream, pan masala and tobacco manufacturers, and inter-State suppliers, among others, remain governed by the ₹20 lakh limit). Special category states carry a lower threshold of ₹10 lakh for both goods and services under the proviso to Section 22(1).

Section 24 — Mandatory registration irrespective of turnover: Certain categories must register regardless of turnover, including inter-State taxable suppliers, casual taxable persons, persons liable under reverse charge, e-commerce operators, and non-resident taxable persons.

Section 25 — Procedure: Registration must be applied for within 30 days of becoming liable, via the common portal, in the prescribed form; a unique GSTIN is granted per State/Union Territory of operation. Rule 8(4A) of the CGST Rules mandates Aadhaar authentication as part of the registration application process.

Advisory scope: This service covers threshold assessment, choice of registration type (regular/composition), multi-state registration structuring, and identification of Section 24 mandatory-registration triggers before a liability crystallises.

GST advisory and registration is the starting point of a business's GST life — the advice on whether registration is required, the registration itself, and the structure of the business's GST profile. Under the CGST Act 2017, registration is compulsory for businesses crossing the threshold prescribed under Section 22 (and the special cases of Section 24), and the registration is applied for under Section 25 in the prescribed forms on the GST portal. The advice covers the entity's registrations — the main GSTIN, the additional places of business, the branch registrations — and the compliance profile that follows.

The registration decision is a tax structure decision. A business that registers where it need not carries the compliance load without the benefit; one that should register and does not carries the liability without the registration. The threshold, the nature of the supply and the place of business all feed the decision, and the registration's details — the constitution, the bank account, the principal place of business — are the identity the entire GST life hangs on.

The cost of a wrong registration is the cost of rebuilding: a GSTIN registered with the wrong entity or the wrong bank account that must be amended under the rules, a business that crosses the threshold and discovers the registration gap at the first notice, or a registration created without the compliance calendar to run it. Each is a defect that grows with time.

This service is for businesses registering for GST or reviewing their registration structure. We advise on the registration obligation under Sections 22 to 25 of the CGST Act 2017, prepare and file the registration with the correct details, coordinate the verification, and set up the compliance profile — the returns, the e-invoicing, the ITC and the calendar — that the registration brings with it.