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Freedom251 › Blog › E-commerce

GST Registration for Online Sellers in India: Marketplace, State and Turnover Rules

By Freedom251 Team · · 5 min read

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There is no single GST rule for every online seller in India. Whether you must register depends on your PAN-based aggregate turnover, whether you sell goods or services, where your supplies are made, the States or Union territories in which you do business, and whether a marketplace collects GST TCS on your sales. Marketplace sellers below the usual turnover threshold need particular care: a conditional route for some intra-State goods suppliers has been reported, but the exact current notification and GST Portal enrollment requirements are not established here. Check those before relying on an exemption.

Start with the five facts that decide the answer

Before opening a GST registration application, establish the facts below. A marketplace account or one GST registration is not, by itself, the full picture.

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  1. Your aggregate turnover: assess annual turnover on a PAN basis across the seller’s business activities, rather than looking only at one marketplace account.
  2. What you sell: goods and services have different threshold figures in CBIC’s published guidance. Also distinguish ordinary seller supplies from specified services taxed under section 9(5).
  3. Where the supply is made: determine whether supplies are intra-State or inter-State and check whether a current exception applies.
  4. Where you have business or stock locations: GST registration is State/UT-specific when liability arises there; consider places of business and inventory or fulfillment locations, not just your home address.
  5. How the marketplace operates: determine whether the platform is an e-commerce operator required to collect tax under section 52, and check current exemptions and enrollment conditions for your exact sales.

Turnover thresholds: goods and services differ

CBIC’s GST update dated 1 April 2019 stated a goods-registration threshold of ₹40 lakh generally and ₹20 lakh in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura and Uttarakhand. The same update stated service thresholds of ₹20 lakh generally and ₹10 lakh in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.

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These are the figures in that dated CBIC publication, not a complete determination of a seller’s current eligibility. The seller’s State/UT, supply mix, applicable notifications and compulsory-registration provisions can change the result. Check the current rule for your circumstances before treating a threshold as permission to remain unregistered.

Supply category CBIC-published threshold Geographic qualification and date
Goods ₹40 lakh generally CBIC update effective 1 April 2019; later rules and seller-specific applicability must be checked.
Goods ₹20 lakh Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura and Uttarakhand, in CBIC’s 1 April 2019 update.
Services ₹20 lakh generally CBIC update dated 1 April 2019; verify later changes and applicability.
Services ₹10 lakh Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, in CBIC’s 1 April 2019 update.

Marketplace sales: do not assume the platform makes registration automatic

Section 24 of the CGST Act lists certain suppliers selling through an e-commerce operator required to collect tax under section 52 among the compulsory-registration classes. CBIC’s e-commerce FAQ also describes this general rule. But that older FAQ does not settle the later conditional route reported for some below-threshold sellers of goods who make only intra-State supplies.

As of 5 October 2026, the controlling post-2023 notification conditions and the current GST Portal and marketplace enrollment path for that below-threshold route are not established here. Therefore, neither “every marketplace seller must register” nor “below the threshold means you can sell unregistered” is a safe blanket answer.

  • Confirm whether the platform is acting as an operator required to collect section 52 TCS for the relevant supplies.
  • Establish whether your sales are intra-State only, and calculate your aggregate turnover across relevant business activities under your PAN.
  • Check the current notification’s eligibility conditions and the GST Portal enrollment process, then confirm that the marketplace accepts the resulting status.

CBIC describes an e-commerce operator as a person owning, operating or managing a digital or electronic facility or platform. Its older FAQ discusses TCS and net taxable supplies, but the rate quoted there may reflect earlier law. Do not rely on that historic rate as the current rate; check current law and notifications.

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Section 9(5) is a different marketplace role

For services specifically notified under section 9(5), the operator is treated as the deemed supplier and pays the tax. That is distinct from an ordinary seller supplying goods or services through a marketplace where section 52 TCS may apply. A platform handling payment or displaying a listing does not, by itself, establish which treatment applies: identify the supply and the operator’s legal role.

Inter-State sales can trigger registration

The Act lists persons making inter-State taxable supplies among compulsory-registration classes. That is an important warning for sellers shipping across State borders, but it should not be applied without checking current notified exceptions and the actual place-of-supply facts. An unregistered seller should not assume that low turnover alone authorizes inter-State taxable sales.

For each product or service, establish where the supply is treated as taking place and whether it is taxable. Then check whether an exception applies to that seller and transaction. Do not treat a customer’s delivery address, by itself, as a complete place-of-supply analysis.

Registration follows the States or UTs where you are liable

The CGST Act requires a person liable under section 22 or 24 to apply in each State or Union territory where that person is liable. A single registration in each State/UT is the general default, and registrations in different States/UTs are treated as distinct persons under the Act.

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This makes business footprint relevant. A seller using stock or fulfillment locations in more than one State should establish whether those locations create registration liability in each location; registration in the seller’s home State is not automatically a substitute. The answer depends on the seller’s arrangements and applicable rules.

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Apply through the GST Portal after establishing liability

The GST Portal’s normal taxpayer guide describes an online application that asks for PAN, legal name, State/UT, place-of-business and business details. The application procedure does not decide whether you are legally required to register, so first classify your supplies, turnover and any applicable exception.

  1. Identify the State/UT in which liability arises and gather the relevant PAN, legal-name and business-location information.
  2. Use the GST Portal’s registration service for a normal taxpayer and complete the requested business details and application fields.
  3. Submit within 30 days after becoming liable where that rule applies. The Portal guide says a timely application makes registration effective from the date liability arose; a late application is effective from the date registration is granted.
  4. If you are a casual taxable person or non-resident taxable person, the Act specifies an application at least five days before commencing business.

Registration changes the return workflow

The GST Portal describes GSTR-1 as the outward-supplies statement for normal and casual registered taxpayers making outward supplies, with monthly and quarterly filing options and fields for e-commerce supplies. Composition taxpayers and specified categories are excluded from GSTR-1. Filing frequency, form requirements and eligibility depend on the taxpayer’s category and current portal guidance; check those requirements after registration.

Use this decision checklist before listing or shipping

  • Have you calculated aggregate annual turnover on a PAN basis, rather than using only one storefront’s sales?
  • Have you identified whether each relevant activity is a supply of goods, a service, or a notified section 9(5) service?
  • Have you checked the threshold applicable to your State/UT and the current rules that may modify it?
  • Do any supplies cross State boundaries, and have you checked compulsory-registration provisions and current exceptions?
  • Does the marketplace collect section 52 TCS, and if you are below threshold, have you verified the exact current notification and portal enrollment conditions?
  • Do you hold stock or operate places of business in other States/UTs that may create separate liability?

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E-commerceGST IndiaGST registrationmarketplace TCSonline sellers

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