GST Registration for Foreigners in India

Who is a non-resident taxable person under GST?

The CGST Act defines a non-resident taxable person as someone who occasionally undertakes transactions involving the supply of goods or services, whether as principal or agent or in any other capacity, but who has no fixed place of business or residence in India. Both limbs matter: occasional supply, and no fixed Indian establishment.

Typical cases are a foreign company exhibiting and selling at a trade fair in India, an overseas supplier installing or commissioning equipment on site, a foreign performer or event organiser, and an overseas business making a one-off delivery of goods from an Indian stock position. In each case there is Indian activity but no Indian establishment.

If the foreign business actually sets up an Indian presence — an office, a branch, a subsidiary — it is no longer occasional and no longer without a fixed place of business, and the ordinary registration route applies to that Indian entity instead. See Indian subsidiary registration.

How is this different from a casual taxable person or an OIDAR supplier?

Three registration routes get confused with each other, and picking the wrong one wastes weeks. The distinguishing questions are whether you have an Indian establishment at all, and whether your supplies are digital services to Indian consumers.

The practical test for the first two rows is residence, not nationality. An Indian company with a Mumbai office that wants to sell at an exhibition in Bengaluru is a casual taxable person, not a non-resident one — it has a fixed place of business in India. A Singapore company doing the same thing is a non-resident taxable person.

The OIDAR route is the one most foreign software and platform businesses actually need. If you supply digital services to Indian recipients from outside India, you register as a non-resident online services provider in Form REG-10 and file GSTR-5A, without the non-resident advance-deposit mechanism. Getting this right matters, because the compliance load and the cash requirement are very different.

When must a non-resident taxable person register?

The application has to be submitted at least five days before commencement of business in India. That is the statutory position under the registration rule, and it is a hard planning constraint — you cannot supply first and register afterwards.

In reality, five days is the legal minimum rather than a sensible plan. You need an Indian authorised signatory in place, documents attested or apostilled, an estimate of the tax liability computed, and funds routed to India for the advance deposit before the certificate can issue. For an exhibition or an installation project, start three to four weeks out.

There is no threshold to cross first. Section 24 makes registration compulsory for a non-resident taxable person irrespective of turnover, so the ₹20 lakh and ₹40 lakh limits that apply to resident businesses are simply unavailable — see GST registration for the resident position.

What documents are required for GST registration for foreigners?

The registration is not PAN-based, which is the single biggest departure from an ordinary application. An individual applies on a passport; a foreign entity applies on its home-country tax identification number or unique identification number, or its Indian PAN if it happens to have one.

• Self-attested copy of the valid passport of the non-resident individual, with visa details
• For a foreign entity, the tax identification number or unique number by which the government of that country identifies it
• Certificate of incorporation or equivalent registration document of the foreign entity
• Passport-size photograph of the non-resident applicant
• Details and PAN of an authorised signatory who is resident in India
• Indian mobile number and email address of the authorised signatory
• Photograph of the authorised signatory
• Letter of authorisation, or board resolution with acceptance letter, appointing the authorised signatory
• Proof of the principal place of business in India for the registration period
• Bank account proof, which can be added by amendment after the GSTIN is granted
• An estimate of the turnover and tax liability for the registration period, to compute the advance deposit

Foreign documents generally need notarisation or apostille depending on the country, and the name on the passport or registration certificate has to match the name in the application exactly. Bank details were made optional at the application stage, and the portal prompts you to add them through a non-core amendment when you first log in after the GSTIN is granted.

Do you need an Indian authorised signatory?

Yes, and this is non-negotiable. The rule requires the application to be signed or verified by an authorised signatory who is a person resident in India holding a valid PAN. Their name, PAN, Indian mobile number, and email go into Part A of the application, and every portal communication flows to them.

Choose carefully, because this person is your operational interface with the GST system for the whole registration period. They will receive notices, hold the portal credentials, and sign the returns. Where they hold an Aadhaar number, the application can also be verified electronically through Aadhaar-based e-signature.

This is usually a local representative, an Indian group company employee, or a professional appointed for the engagement. What it cannot be is a non-resident director sitting overseas, however senior — the residence and PAN requirements are express.

How much advance tax do you have to deposit?

There is no fixed amount. The Act requires a deposit equal to the estimated tax liability for the period for which registration is sought, based on your own estimate of turnover. The portal issues a temporary reference number first, generates a challan from the estimate, and the acknowledgement — and therefore the ARN — is produced only after that deposit lands in the electronic cash ledger.

1. 1.Estimate the taxable turnover for the registration period, supply by supply
2. 2.Determine the correct rate and the place of supply for each line
3. 3.Compute the estimated CGST, SGST or UTGST, IGST, and cess
4. 4.Complete Part A of REG-09 and obtain the temporary reference number
5. 5.Generate the challan, which is pre-filled from the estimate and cannot be edited
6. 6.Remit the funds and confirm credit to the electronic cash ledger against the provisional GSTIN
7. 7.The ARN is generated once the deposit is made, and the application proceeds to verification

Estimate carefully in both directions. Under-estimating means topping up mid-project or facing interest on short payment; over-estimating means cash parked in India that has to be claimed back as a refund after the registration ends. Where the registration is extended, a further deposit for the extended period is required along with the extension application.

How long is the registration valid, and can it be extended?

The certificate is valid for the period specified in your application, or ninety days from the effective date of registration, whichever is earlier. So you can ask for a shorter period, but you cannot ask for a longer one at the outset.

The extension is available once, and only if the application is made before the initial registration expires. Miss that and the registration simply lapses — a fresh REG-09 with a fresh advance deposit is the only way back. For a project that might run long, it is far easier to apply for the extension early than to reconstruct a registration mid-installation.

What returns does a non-resident taxable person file?

The return is GSTR-5, and it replaces the GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B pair that resident taxpayers file. It reports the outward supplies made during the period and the tax discharged on them, with the liability set against the advance deposit sitting in the cash ledger.

It is filed monthly where the registration spans more than a month — commonly by the thirteenth of the following month, as notified — or within seven days after the registration expires, whichever is earlier. The due date has been changed by notification in the past, so confirm the current date for your period rather than relying on a remembered figure.

An electronic cash ledger, credit ledger, and liability register are maintained for a non-resident registration just as they are for a resident one, and the return can be filed with DSC or EVC. The annual return and the final return are not applicable to a non-resident taxable person.

Can a non-resident taxable person claim input tax credit?

Only in a narrow way. Credit for a non-resident taxable person is restricted to tax paid on goods imported by them. Credit on domestic purchases of goods or services in India, and on imported services, is generally not available in the way a resident registration would allow.

That restriction has a direct pricing consequence. Indian GST on your local costs — venue hire, logistics, local contractors, professional fees — is a cost rather than a recoverable credit, so it belongs in the project budget rather than in the tax working. For a business with heavy local spend, that alone can justify looking at an Indian entity instead.

Your Indian customers, by contrast, can claim credit on your invoices in the ordinary way, provided the invoice is compliant and the supply is reported in your GSTR-5. Getting the return filed on time is therefore a customer-relationship matter as much as a compliance one.

How do you get the unused advance deposit back?

Any balance in the electronic cash ledger after the liability for the registration period has been discharged can be claimed as a refund. The claim is made after the return for the period has been filed, because the department needs the final liability position before releasing the balance.

1. 1.File GSTR-5 for every period covered by the registration, including the final one
2. 2.Confirm the liability is fully discharged and reconcile the cash ledger balance
3. 3.File the refund application on the portal with the prescribed statement and declarations
4. 4.Attach invoices, the deposit challans, and the return acknowledgements
5. 5.Respond to any deficiency memo within the window stated
6. 6.Track the sanction order and the credit to the nominated bank account

Refunds are subject to the limitation period computed from the relevant date, and a non-resident registration that lapses with returns unfiled is the classic way to lose the deposit altogether. Build the refund step into the project close-out rather than treating it as an afterthought once everyone has left the country.

What is the step-by-step process for REG-09?

1. 1.Confirm you are a non-resident taxable person rather than a casual taxable person or an OIDAR supplier
2. 2.Appoint an authorised signatory resident in India holding a valid PAN
3. 3.Collect and attest or apostille the passport or foreign registration documents
4. 4.Arrange proof of the Indian principal place of business for the registration period
5. 5.Estimate the taxable turnover and the tax liability for the period
6. 6.File Part A of REG-09 with the applicant identifier and the signatory’s details, and verify by OTP
7. 7.Obtain the temporary reference number and complete Part B — business details, signatory, place of business, bank details where available
8. 8.Generate the challan and remit the advance deposit to the electronic cash ledger
9. 9.The ARN is generated on receipt of the deposit; the application moves to verification
10. 10.Respond to any clarification notice within the window stated
11. 11.Download the registration certificate and note the validity period
12. 12.Start issuing GST-compliant invoices, file GSTR-5, and diarise the extension and refund steps

Sequence the signatory appointment first. Almost every delayed non-resident registration we see stalls at the same place — the foreign applicant is ready, but there is no Indian resident with a PAN authorised to sign.

What are the invoicing and place-of-supply issues?

Once registered you issue Indian tax invoices carrying your GSTIN, the correct HSN or SAC, the place of supply, and the applicable tax split. Which tax applies — IGST, or CGST and SGST — depends on the place of supply rules rather than on where you are based, so the same foreign supplier can have different splits on different transactions.

The recurring traps are supplies connected with immovable property in India, performance-based services such as installation and training, event admission and organisation, and goods delivered from a stock position already inside India. Each has a specific place-of-supply rule, and each can produce a state-level liability you did not plan for.

Where the structure is anything other than a single clean supply in one state, get the position mapped before invoicing rather than after. An online CA consultation at the planning stage is materially cheaper than reworking invoices that Indian customers have already booked and claimed credit on.

Should a foreign business register as a non-resident or set up an Indian entity?

The non-resident route is built for episodes: an exhibition, a project, a season. If India is going to be a continuing market, its constraints stop being tolerable — ninety days of validity with one extension, no ordinary input tax credit, an advance deposit on every registration, and no ability to build a durable Indian presence.

An Indian entity brings its own obligations — incorporation, resident director, FEMA reporting on the inbound investment, and the full compliance calendar. See Indian subsidiary registration and FDI filing with the RBI. The right answer is usually decided by how many times you expect to come back.

What goes wrong most often in non-resident GST registrations?

• The application is filed too close to the event, leaving no room for the deposit and verification
• No Indian resident authorised signatory with a valid PAN has been identified
• Foreign documents are not notarised or apostilled as the jurisdiction requires
• The applicant name does not match the passport or the foreign registration certificate exactly
• The advance deposit is under-estimated, leaving a shortfall and interest mid-project
• The extension is applied for after the initial period expired rather than before
• GSTR-5 is not filed for the final period, which blocks the refund of the unused deposit
• Local Indian GST costs were budgeted as recoverable credit when they are not
• The business was actually an OIDAR supplier and should have used a different route entirely
• Place-of-supply treatment was assumed rather than determined, producing the wrong tax split

Almost every item on that list is a planning failure rather than a legal difficulty. A non-resident registration done with three weeks of lead time, a signatory in place, and a properly computed deposit is a straightforward filing.

Why choose Arjun Filings for GST registration for foreigners?

Arjun Filings runs GST registration for foreigners as a checklist-first engagement: a qualified CA or CS scopes the work, tells you exactly which documents are needed, and reviews every form before it is signed and submitted. You get a named specialist, a status update at each stage, and a compliance calendar for whatever comes next.

• CA-led desk for GST registration for foreigners
• Checklist before portal submission
• Mismatch and notice awareness
• Clear status until certificate or ack