Section 22 of GST Act: Persons liable for registration

Amended and updated notes on section 22 of CGST Act, 2017. Detail discussion on provisions and rules related to persons liable for registration.

Amended and updated notes on section 22 of CGST Act, 2017. Detail discussion on provisions and rules related to persons liable for registration.

Chapter VI (Sections 2230) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 deals with the provisions related to registration. Section 22 of CGST 2017 provides for persons liable for registration.

Recently, we have discussed in detail section 21 (Manner of recovery of credit distributed in excess) of CGST Act 2017. Today, we learn the provisions of section 22 of Central GST Act 2017.

Section 22 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 has been notified by the Ministry of Finance vide Notification No. 1/2017-Central Tax, G.S.R. 605(E), dated 19.06.2017. This notification was come into force from 22nd June, 2017 i.e. the commencement date of section 22 is 22-6-2017.

Name of ActThe Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017
Enacted byParliament of India
Administered byCentral Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
Governing bodyGST Council
Number of Chapters21
Number of Sections174
You are reading:
Chapter No.VI
Chapter NameRegistration
Section No.22
Section NamePersons liable for registration
Updated 2024 EditionGST Law Book PDF

Section 22 of Central GST – Persons liable for registration1

Section 22 of CGST Act 2017 enforced w.e.f. 22.06.2017 vide Notification No. 1/2017-Central Tax, G.S.R. 605(E), dated 19.06.2017.

Section 22(1) of CGST Act

Section 22(1): Every supplier shall be liable to be registered under this Act in the State or Union territory, other than special category States, from where he makes a taxable supply of goods or services or both, if his aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds twenty lakh rupees:

[Special category of states are Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Please see clause (iii) in Explanation given u/s 22 i.e. below in this webpage itself.]

Provided that where such person makes taxable supplies of goods or services or both from any of the special category States, he shall be liable to be registered if his aggregate turnover in a financial year exceeds ten lakh rupees.

Provided further that the Government may, at the request of a special category State and on the recommendations of the Council, enhance the aggregate turnover referred to in the first proviso from ten lakh rupees to such amount, not exceeding twenty lakh rupees and subject to such conditions and limitations, as may be so notified.

[Second proviso has been inserted w.e.f. 01.02.2019 by Section 11(a) of the CGST (Amendment) Act, 2018]

Provided also that the Government may, at the request of a State and on the recommendations of the Council, enhance the aggregate turnover from twenty lakh rupees to such amount not exceeding forty lakh rupees in case of supplier who is engaged exclusively in the supply of goods, subject to such conditions and limitations, as may be notified.

Explanation: For the purposes of this sub-section, a person shall be considered to be engaged exclusively in the supply of goods even if he is engaged in exempt supply of services provided by way of extending deposits, loans or advances in so far as the consideration is represented by way of interest or discount.

[Third proviso and explanation of sub-section (1) of section 22 was inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 w.e.f. 1-Jan-2020 vide 01/2020-Central Tax.]

Section 22(2) of CGST Act

Section 22(2): Every person who, on the day immediately preceding the appointed day, is registered or holds a licence under an existing law, shall be liable to be registered under this Act with effect from the appointed day.

Section 22(3) of CGST Act

Section 22(3): Where a business carried on by a taxable person registered under this Act is transferred, whether on account of succession or otherwise, to another person as a going concern, the transferee or the successor, as the case may be, shall be liable to be registered with effect from the date of such transfer or succession.

Section 22(4) of CGST Act

Section 22(4): Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-sections (1) and (3), in a case of transfer pursuant to sanction of a scheme or an arrangement for amalgamation or, as the case may be, demerger of two or more companies pursuant to an order of a High Court, Tribunal or otherwise, the transferee shall be liable to be registered, with effect from the date on which the Registrar of Companies issues a certificate of incorporation giving effect to such order of the High Court or Tribunal.

Explanation: For the purposes of this section, ––

  • (i) the expression “aggregate turnover” shall include all supplies made by the taxable person, whether on his own account or made on behalf of all his principals;
  • (ii) the supply of goods, after completion of job work, by a registered job worker shall be treated as the supply of goods by the principal referred to in section 143, and the value of such goods shall not be included in the aggregate turnover of the registered job worker;
  • (iii) the expression “special category States” shall mean the States as specified in sub-clause (g) of clause (4) of article 279A of the Constitution except the State of Jammu and Kashmir and States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Uttarakhand.

[Clause (iii) in Explanation has been amended (inserted) w.e.f. 8th July, 2017 by Section 2(2)(b) of The Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu And Kashmir) Act, 2017 (No. 26 of 2017) – read with Corrigendum for this provision issued vide Indian Institutes of Management Act, 2017 dated 31st December, 2017 (No. 33 of 2017).]

[Clause (iii) in Explanation has been amended (inserted) w.e.f. 1st February, 2019 by Section 11(b) of The Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act, 2018 (No. 31 of 2018).]


Registration under GST Law

GST Registration 2022: Registration under GST law is a fundamental requirement to identify GST tax payer. This is very first step of compliance under Goods and Services Tax Act.

Why GST Registration is Required?

Importance and advantages of registration under GST law: If you registered under GST law, the following benefit you will get:

  1. Legal Supplier: The very first advantage of getting registration under GST law is that you shall be legally recognized as supplier of goods or services.
  2. GST Number: After registration, you will get 15 digit PAN-based a unique number called Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN).
  3. High Credibility: In business industry your credibility will be improved as a GST registered dealer.
  4. Authorised Dealer: You will become legally authorised person to collect GST from customer to raise a Tax invoice (collection of inward tax). That means you shall have legal entitlement for forwarding the credit of GST on the taxable supplies made.
  5. Claiming ITC: You can claim ITC (Input Tax Credit) of GST paid and use the same for payment of GST due on taxable supply of Goods and Services. In other words, you continue the seamless flow of ITC from suppliers to recipients.

Who is Required to Register under GST Law?

Analysis of Section 22 of CGST Act: Every supplier liable to get GST registration if his aggregate turnover in a FY exceeds ₹20 Lakhs.

However, GST registration is required in case you make taxable supplies from any of the special category States even if your aggregate turnover in a FY exceeds ₹10 Lakhs.

The successor shall get registration under GST law with effect from the date of business transfer or succession.

The transferee shall be liable to be registered under GST law in case of sanction of a scheme/ amalgamation/ demerger of two or more companies pursuant to an order of a High Court or Tribunal.

Exemption from obtaining GST registration

The following persons are not liable for registration under GST law:

  • Person making taxable supplies upto ₹10 lakh from Special Category States i.e. Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
  • Persons making taxable supplies upto ₹20 lakh from other states and Union Territories.

Note: You should also refer the provisions of section 23 for more detail on GST Registration not required by specified persons.


According to the definition given under clause (107) in section 2, “taxable person” means a person who is registered or liable to be registered under section 22 or section 24.

GST by E-commerce Operator: If a person is liable for GST registration u/s 22(1) then tax on intra-State supplies shall not be paid by the electronic commerce operator in case of the following categories of services:

  • services by way of providing accommodation in hotels, inns, guest houses, clubs, campsites or other commercial places meant for residential or lodging purposes.
  • services by way of house-keeping, such as plumbing, carpentering etc.

For more detail read GST Notification No. 17/2017-Central Tax (Rate), dated 28.06.2017 and last amended by 17/2021-Central Tax (Rate), dated 18.11.2021.

However, the GST rate is 5% if a person is not liable for registration u/s 22(1) supplying services through electronic commerce operator by way of house-keeping, such as plumbing, carpentering, etc. Provided that credit of input tax charged on goods and services has not been taken that means,

  • (a) credit of input tax charged on goods or services used exclusively in supplying such service has not been taken; and
  • (b) credit of input tax charged on goods or services used partly for supplying such service and partly for effecting other supplies eligible for input tax credits, is reversed as if supply of such service is an exempt supply and attracts provisions of sub-section (2) of section 17 of CGST Act, 2017 and the rules made thereunder.

Cancel GST Registration: As per provision of section 29(1)(c), if the taxable person is no longer liable to be registered u/s 22 then the proper officer may, either on his own motion or on an application filed by the registered person or by his legal heirs, in case of death of such person, cancel the GST registration.

Migration of Existing Taxpayers: In accordance with the provision of section 139(3), the certificate of registration issued to a person u/s 139(1) shall be deemed to have not been issued if the said registration is cancelled in pursuance of an application filed by such person that he was not liable to registration u/s 22 or section 24.

  1. Section 22 of CGST Act 2017 enforced w.e.f. 22.06.2017 vide Notification No. 1/2017-Central Tax, G.S.R. 605(E), dated 19.06.2017. ↩︎


AUBSP.com – Trending Now

March 2024 Edition

GST Law Book PDF

(GST Bare Acts, Rules, Rates and Exemptions)

Learn More