₹40 lakh — goods only
A business that supplies only goods need not register until its turnover in a financial year exceeds ₹40 lakh. The limit is crossed when turnover goes above it, not when it reaches it.
Do you need to register for GST?
Two limits decide it for most businesses: ₹40 lakh for goods and ₹20 lakh for services. A handful of situations decide it regardless of turnover. Answer four questions and this tells you which applies to you.
Written for businesses in Tamil Nadu. A few states have lower limits, so anywhere else the answer is to ask.
The two limits
₹20 lakh — services, or both
A business that supplies services has to register above ₹20 lakh. So does one that supplies both goods and services: the ₹40 lakh figure belongs to businesses that supply goods and nothing else, so a shop that also charges for installation takes the lower limit.
Some states are lower
These are the general limits and they cover Tamil Nadu. A few states and union territories have lower ones, which is why the checker asks where you operate and does not guess for anywhere else.
What counts as turnover
The test is on aggregate turnover, which is wider than sales. It adds up your taxable supplies, your exempt supplies, your exports and your inter-state supplies, across every state you operate in under the same PAN. It leaves out the GST itself and any purchase on which you pay tax under reverse charge. A business with a small taxable turnover and a large exempt one can be over the limit without having charged GST on most of it.
When turnover does not matter
Section 24 of the CGST Act makes registration compulsory in certain cases whatever the turnover. Selling goods to customers in another state is the commonest. Others are having no fixed place of business in the state, paying tax under reverse charge, selling goods through an e-commerce platform, deducting GST TDS or TCS, and acting as an agent. Sellingservices to a customer in another state is different: below ₹20 lakh it does not, by itself, require registration.
Several of those have exceptions by notification, which is why the checker answers "likely required — confirm" for them rather than a flat yes or no.
When you cross the limit
The limit is tested on the running total for the year, so it can be crossed in any month. Section 25 gives you 30 days from that day to apply, and tax is payable from the day you crossed it, not the day you register. Registering voluntarily below the limit is allowed, and it is worth doing when customers insist on a GST invoice — but it brings monthly returns that a small business would not otherwise file.