Registration

Persons liable for registration

Section 22, CGST Act

Chapter VI – Registration Text as on 2026-09-05 Source CBIC

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In one line

You must register for GST once your aggregate turnover in a financial year crosses the threshold: for a supplier of goods only it is Rs 40 lakh (Rs 20 lakh in special category states); for services or mixed supply it is Rs 20 lakh (Rs 10 lakh in special category states). Registration is per State from which you make taxable supplies.

What this means in practice

The parts that actually decide cases — the things a practitioner checks first.

1

The Rs 40 lakh limit is NOT in the section – it comes from Notification 10/2019-Central Tax and applies only to a person engaged EXCLUSIVELY in the supply of goods, in a State that adopted it. Supply even one rupee of service and the limit drops to Rs 20 lakh.

2

The Rs 40 lakh route is also unavailable to a person making inter-State supplies, a casual taxable person, and suppliers of ice cream, pan masala, tobacco and fly ash bricks.

3

Special category States for the Rs 20 lakh / Rs 10 lakh limits are those listed in the Explanation – do not assume all north-eastern States are on the lower figure; several opted up.

4

Aggregate turnover is PAN-level and all-India, and it includes exempt and export supplies – a common error is to test only the taxable turnover of one GSTIN.

Questions people actually ask

Real questions we get on this provision, answered straight.

I sell goods worth Rs 35 lakh and earn Rs 2 lakh of commission. Am I within the Rs 40 lakh limit?+

No. The Rs 40 lakh threshold is only for a person supplying goods exclusively. The commission is a service, so your limit is Rs 20 lakh and you crossed it long ago on the combined aggregate turnover of Rs 37 lakh.

Do exempt sales count towards the threshold?+

Yes. Aggregate turnover includes taxable, exempt, export and inter-State supplies of persons on the same PAN across India, excluding taxes and inward reverse-charge supplies.

How this provision is built

The skeleton, clause by clause — useful when a notice cites a specific sub-clause.

(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 turn…
(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.
(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…
(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…

The exact words of the law

3,294 characters, unedited

Reproduced from the CBIC text. We explain it above — but you should always be able to read it yourself.

Read the full provision+


(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:
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:
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.


(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.


(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.


(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.

What changed, and when

The amendment trail, newest first — because the version that applies to your case depends on the period.

2020-01-01 · Third proviso + Explanation inserted (Rs 40 lakh goods limit enabler)

Inserted third proviso empowering enhancement of the Rs 20 lakh limit up to Rs 40 lakh for suppliers exclusively of goods, plus the Explanation on what counts as exclusively goods. [Footnote 46]

2019-02-01 · Special category list narrowed + second proviso inserted

Inserted the named-states clause (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Uttarakhand) in Explanation (iii); inserted the second proviso allowing enhancement of the special-category limit up to Rs 20 lakh; substituted entry reference in s.20 turnover def. [Footnotes 44, 45, 48]

2017-07-08 · Special category definition amended

Inserted ‘except the State of Jammu and Kashmir’ in Explanation (iii). [Footnote 47]

2017-07-01 · Section commenced with the Act

Original thresholds Rs 20 lakh / Rs 10 lakh (special category).

Read this with

A provision rarely works alone. These are the ones it points to.

Where this comes from

Text reproduced from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, as available on 2026-09-05. The explanation and practice notes above are GSTZone’s own, written for this hub. If you spot anything out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it — this hub is checked daily against CBIC.

gst registration limitgst turnover threshold40 lakh gst limit20 lakh gst limitpersons liable for gst registrationspecial category states gst

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