Last updated: December 17th, 2024 3:09 PM

GST Registration for Transporters, Godown and Warehouse

The new taxation system, GST,  requires GST registration for transporters, godown and warehouse. Goods and Services Tax (GST) shall unify India into one of the largest markets for goods and services across the world. Under GST, the requirement for compliance from businesses would be extensive to reduce revenue leakage for the Government, while also attempting to improve ease of doing business in India by digitising the administration of GST through the GSTN Network. Transportation, godown and warehouses are key logistical infrastructures for any country and a basic requirement for doing business. Hence, to account for all transport or transfer of goods within India, the GST Council introduced a special mechanism for registering Godown, Warehouse and Transporters under GST.

Requirement of GST Registration

To operate a business in India, the concerned individual should obtain GST registration on account of the aggregate turnover criteria or due to inter-state supply of goods or because the business becomes liable to pay tax under GST reverse charge mechanism. The taxpayer should apply for GST registration in terms of the aggregate turnover criteria, except for States designated as special category states, any person doing more than Rs.20 lakhs in a financial year should obtain GST registration. For special category states, the GST aggregate turnover applies at Rs.10 lakhs. Irrespective of the aggregate turnover of a business, the concerned person shall apply for GST registration for any business involved in inter-state supply of goods/services. Further, any business that becomes liable to pay GST on account of reverse charge mechanism would also have to obtain GST registration, irrespective of turnover. Read the full criteria to obtain GST registration in India.

Godown, Warehouse and Transporter GST Registration

According to the GST Act, all owner or operator of the warehouse, godown or any other place used for storage of goods and every transporter shall maintain the records of the consigner, consignee and other relevant details of the goods stored or transported. It applies irrespective of whether the individual registered for GST or not. Hence the godown, warehouse or transport should opt for GST registration by filing Form GST ENR-01. On filing and verification of the GST registration through the application form for unregistered godown, warehouse or transporter, the portal shall generate a unique enrollment number for the godown, warehouse or transporter.

Necessary Records to Maintain by Godown, Warehouse and Transporters

Any person engaged in the business of transporting goods in India should maintain the records of goods transported, delivered and goods stored in transit by the concerned person. The records shall also include GSTIN of the registered consigner and consignee for each of the individual's branches. All owners and operators of a warehouse or godown are required to maintain books of accounts with respect to the period for which particular goods remain in the warehouse, including the particulars relating to dispatch, movement, receipt, and disposal of such goods. Further, an owner or operator of godown is required to store the goods in a manner that they can be identified item wise and owner wise and is required to facilitate any physical verification or inspection by the proper officer on demand.