GST Registration for Foreigners (Non-Resident Taxable Person)

Someone who occasionally makes taxable supplies in India but has no fixed place of business here — such as a foreign company at a trade fair or on a short project.

You apply in advance (form REG-09), appoint an Indian authorised signatory, make an advance deposit of estimated tax, and receive a registration valid for a limited period.

Section 27(1): for the period specified in the application or ninety days from the effective date of registration, whichever is earlier — so ninety days is a ceiling, not an entitlement, and asking for sixty gets you sixty. The proviso allows the proper officer, on sufficient cause being shown, to extend it by a further period not exceeding ninety days, which is a single extension rather than a rolling one. The section also states that such a person shall make taxable supplies only after the issuance of the certificate of registration — there is no starting early and regularising later. We track the expiry and apply for the extension in time if your activity continues.

Under section 27(2), a deposit of tax equivalent to the estimated tax liability for the period for which registration is sought, made at the time of submitting the application under section 25(1). Rule 13(2) sets the mechanics: you receive a temporary reference number for making the deposit, and the acknowledgement under Rule 8(5) is issued only after the amount is credited to your electronic cash ledger. Section 27(3) then makes it available for utilisation under section 49, so it is a prepayment rather than a fee — but it is genuinely a precondition, and under-estimating it delays the registration rather than merely creating a shortfall later. If you seek an extension under section 27(1), the proviso to section 27(2) requires an additional deposit for the extended period.

Yes, and the requirement is specific. Rule 13(4) requires the application for registration by a non-resident taxable person to be signed, or verified through electronic verification code, by an authorised signatory who is a person resident in India holding a valid Permanent Account Number. That is not merely a local contact — it is a named individual, resident in India, with an Indian PAN, who signs the application. Identifying that person early is usually the longest lead time in the whole exercise, so we start there. We help set this up.

At least five days before you commence business in India. That comes from two places saying the same thing: the first proviso to section 25(1), and Rule 13(1), which requires the FORM GST REG-09 application to be submitted electronically 'at least five days prior to the commencement of business'. Treat five days as the statutory floor rather than a target, because the advance deposit under section 27(2) has to clear into your electronic cash ledger before the acknowledgement is even issued, and an international transfer can eat the whole window on its own. In practice we start two to three weeks out.

Rule 13(1) requires the application in FORM GST REG-09 with a self-attested copy of a valid passport. Its proviso adds that for a business entity incorporated or established outside India, the application must carry its tax identification number or unique number on the basis of which the entity is identified by the Government of that country, or its Permanent Account Number if it has one. Alongside that you need the Indian resident authorised signatory's PAN and identity documents under Rule 13(4), and the estimated value of your planned supplies to compute the section 27(2) deposit.

Period returns for the validity, which we prepare and file for you.

No — NRTP has its own form, deposit and validity. For ongoing Indian operations, a regular entity/registration is usually better. We advise on the right route.

Tell us your planned activity, dates and estimated supply value; we'll scope the registration and deposit.