Once the GST registration has been availed by a tax payer, the same can be amended for making any change in the details furnished by him during such registration. This amendment or making of change may be required if there is any mistake that has crept in while applying for the registration or there is a relevant change in the fields and information entered by the tax payer while making an application for the registration under GST.
Eligibility
To be eligible to amend the fields of information that were furnished by the taxpayer under GST registration they just need to be registered under GST as any of the following:
- A GST Practitioner
- Online services like Database Access or Retrieval Service Provider
- A Non-Resident (NR) Taxable Person
- Casual Taxable Person
- Normal Taxable Person
- E-commerce Operator
- Tax Collector or Tax Deductor
- UN Bodies
- Embassies or Other Authorities
- Such other taxable persons are issued with GSTIN.
Amending Information in GST Registration Certificate
As stipulated earlier, in case of any need that arises where a change needs to be made with respect to the information furnished during the registration of GST in the GST online portal, then the taxpayer can submit an application for amendment. In this case, where change is to be made with respect to the application for registration or the GST information, a form, namely REG-14, which is an application for amendment, must be signed and submitted by the taxpayer within 15 days of the arising of change in any information. The form should be digitally signed using the DSC or Digital Signature Certificate.
Changes to Business Name
The article here is trying to elaborate on the change in name of the business. At times we can see that business entities change the legal name of their business. This might be done as a part of their elaboration or expansion of activities or even due to the legal complexities that arise. This might also be because of the change in ownership caused.
And in case of such a change in legal name, the tax payer need not cancel their GST registration and instead can amend the registration. For updating this new name on the GST Online Portal, they can file a form named REG-14. This should be signed by the Authorised Signatory using DSC and filed within 15 days from the making of change in the name of the entity.
The GST Officer, now on the basis of receiving such application, should verify and approve the amendment or change in the name of the business entity within 15 days of receipt of such application in Form REG-15. This shall mark the official change in the name of the business entity under the GST registration also.
Time Limit for Change
The change in the name of the business made should be intimated by the tax payer within 15 days from the date on which such change to the name was made.
And the GST Officer on receipt of such application for the amendment of the information, say the name of the business entity, would be required to verify, and provide the approval for such change within 15 days (working days) from the date of receipt of such application. It shall be effective from the date on which such event, which warrants the amendment was made by the GST Authorities.
If the application for amendment was not made duly, or there was a mistake with respect to any documents furnished or there was not enough and proper documents submitted by the tax payer affecting the change in the legal name of the entity, say, then the GST Officer shall serve a notice to such tax payer stating the same and seeking for such additional information or clarification within 15 days.
Now, the taxpayer or applicant for amendment shall provide the GST Officer with further information or clarification within a time of 7 days, and if such information is enough and acceptable, then the officer can grant the amendment by approving the application made. If such information is not enough and fails verification, then the GST Officer can reject such an application and not grant the amendment.
On the occasion of failure on the part of the GST Officer to take any action with respect to the application submitted for amendment by tax payer within the stipulated time periods under the GST law, then the amendment as required by the applicant shall stand valid and the amended certificate shall also be made available to such applicant.
Core and Non-Core Fields
As per the GST, amendments to core and non-core fields are allowed by the GST Act. These can be understood as below:
1. Making an application for changing the core fields, where core fields mean the ones that require approval from the jurisdictional officer. This includes the following:
– Legal Name of the business
– Addition or Reduction or Deletion of Shareholders
– Principal place of Business or Additional place of Business, other than the change made in the state.
2. Application for changing of non-core fields, where the non-core fields are the ones that do not mandate the approval of the GST officials or tax officials and would be auto-updated once the successful filing has been done. And any other field other than the core fields shall be taken or considered as non-core fields.
Procedure for Amending Core Field, Say Name
When the GST registration holder wants to make a change in the name of the entity which is a core field change as per the GST Law, we can say that the following procedure shall be followed:
- Visit the GST Online Portal namely, ‘www.gst.gov.in’.
- Click on the ‘Login’, and enter your user ID and password.
iii. Once logged in, select the ‘Amendment of Registration Core Fields’, which is given under the Registration Menu and comes under the Service Tab.
- Now choose the Business Details tab, and select the field which you want to edit selecting the edit icon given near each field.
- Also, enter the ‘reason’ why you want to amend the same as it is mandatory.
- Now click the ‘Save’ button and save the change made.
vii. Click the continue button, which will now bring a blue tick mark near changes that were made.
viii. Now the details need to be verified by giving the authentication details like the name of the Authorized Signatory and also entering Place.
- Then, the verification shall be done using the DSC or submitting the EVC button.
- A message of completion shall be sent to the tax payer both in the mail and by phone. It will also contain ARN (Application Reference Number).
- And a message of approval or rejection shall also be sent to the tax payer or applicant after a stipulated number of days.
The verification status of the application shall provide the following:
- Pending processing, which means the amendment application has been filed successfully, and also an ARN for future tracking has been issued.
- Pending validation, the amendment application has been submitted but the ARN needs to be generated and is waiting for the same.
- A validation error is shown when the validation of the application fails.
