Single-window GST registration for multistate businesses set for pilot this week

New Delhi: The central government will pilot a single-window goods and services tax registration system for multistate businesses this week, allowing companies to apply for registration in several states through one common application.

The system is designed to eliminate the need for businesses to repeatedly submit the same details of the company, promoter and authorised signatory in each state for registration, easing one of the administrative burdens faced by companies with a pan-India presence. The facility will not be available for small taxpayers registered under the composition scheme.

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The change comes as the government weighs a larger overhaul of the GST administration for businesses with multiple registrations under the same permanent account number (PAN). In July, ET reported that the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs had set up a working group to examine whether such taxpayers could be brought under a centralised administrative framework rather than dealing with multiple central tax jurisdictions.

The 11-member panel, headed by Lucknow Central GST Zone chief commissioner Vinayak Chandra Gupta, also examined the legal, administrative and technology changes needed to implement such a framework. The committee also looked at earlier models, including the Large Taxpayer Unit framework and centralised registration under the previous indirect tax regime.

The committee has submitted its report, which is likely to be discussed at length at the GST Council meeting on Wednesday. "This (single-window registration) is on a pilot basis," said a senior official. The existing registration process available for taxpayers and for both the centre and states will continue, the official told ET.

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Further action will depend on the discussion and decision at the GST Council on whether the arrangement should be optional or mandatory, which taxpayers should be covered and how a single administering jurisdiction should be identified, the official said.

The proposed framework, if taken forward, could give eligible large businesses a single administrative interface with the GST department for matters currently handled across multiple jurisdictions.

The facility, being rolled out through the GST portal by GST Network, will generate a master temporary reference number (TRN) for the application. Common information such as business details, promoters and partners, authorised signatories and goods and services will be captured once.

Separate state-wise TRNs will then be generated, with the common information automatically populated into each application. Businesses will only have to add state-specific details, including the principal and additional places of business and Aadhaar authentication.