Taxable Person under GST (2026): Who Must Register, Who is Exempt, and Special Categories
CA Meet Dhrangadhariya 
April 18, 2026
CA Meet Dhrangadhariya April 18, 2026
Table of Contents
8 min readTable of Contents
Last updated: 12 October 2026 · Written and reviewed by CA Meet Dhrangadhariya, CSM & Co LLP
Quick summary
Whether a particular person or business must register for GST, and when, is governed by three sections working together - not one simple turnover test. Section 22 sets a default threshold; section 24 overrides it for specific categories regardless of turnover; and section 23 carves out exemptions that override both. Missing how these three fit together is one of the most common registration mistakes.
New to terms such as “reverse charge” or “Input Service Distributor”? See the technical terms explained in simple words further down.
A taxable person is anyone registered, or required to be registered, under the CGST Act. “Person” here is defined broadly - individuals, a Hindu Undivided Family, a company, a partnership firm, an LLP, an association or body of individuals, a corporation or government company, a body corporate under foreign law, a co-operative society, a local authority, a trust, and any other artificial juridical person all count.
Under section 22, a person becomes liable to register once their aggregate turnover crosses:
| Category | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Most suppliers | Rs 20 lakh |
| Exclusive goods suppliers, where a State has notified the higher limit | Up to Rs 40 lakh |
| Special category States | Rs 10 lakh |
This is a default threshold - it does not apply to everyone, because sections 23 and 24 carve out exceptions on both sides.
Section 24 overrides section 22’s threshold entirely for these categories - they must register regardless of turnover:
Section 23, as substituted by the Finance Act, 2023 and now in force, exempts two categories from registration - notwithstanding sections 22(1) and 24, meaning this exemption overrides both:
This settles a question that was genuinely open for a period: the amendment clarifies that these two categories need not register even if section 22 or 24 would otherwise catch them - and this is the current, operative law, not a pending proposal.
Someone who occasionally supplies goods or services in a State or Union Territory where they have no fixed place of business. Example: a consultant based in Bengaluru who takes on a short engagement in Pune, with no office there, is a casual taxable person in Pune for that engagement.
The same concept, applied to someone with no fixed place of business anywhere in India. A non-resident occasionally supplying goods or services into India is a non-resident taxable person.
Under section 27:
An office of a supplier that receives tax invoices for input services, and distributes the CGST, SGST or IGST credit on those services to its own branches sharing the same PAN. Only credit on input services can be distributed this way - never on input goods or capital goods.
A person registered under the Composition Scheme (section 10) who pays a flat, low rate of tax on turnover instead of the normal rate, without charging GST to customers. See our full GST Composition Scheme guide for the current turnover limits and rates.
A registered person filing GSTR-3B, with aggregate turnover up to Rs 5 crore in the preceding financial year, can opt into the Quarterly Return Monthly Payment (QRMP) Scheme - filing GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B once a quarter, while still paying tax monthly through FORM PMT-06, and optionally uploading B2B invoices monthly through the Invoice Furnishing Facility (IFF).
Getting registration timing wrong - registering too late under section 24’s compulsory categories, or registering unnecessarily when section 23 would have exempted the business - both create avoidable compliance costs. Please reach out to our team and we will be happy to assist with registration analysis, casual and non-resident taxable person registrations, and Input Service Distributor set-up.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Aggregate turnover | The total value of all taxable, exempt and export supplies made by a person under one PAN, across all their GST registrations, added together. |
| Reverse charge | A situation where the recipient of a supply, not the supplier, is liable to pay GST directly to the Government. |
| Electronic cash ledger | The online account on the GST Portal holding a taxpayer’s cash deposits, used to pay GST liabilities. |
| OIDAR services | Online Information and Database Access or Retrieval services - a category of digital services (such as cloud services, online content, and similar) supplied over the internet with minimal human intervention. |
| Input Service Distributor (ISD) | An office of a business that receives invoices for services used across multiple branches, and redistributes the GST credit on them to those branches. |
| TCS (Tax Collected at Source) | Tax an e-commerce operator must collect on payments to the sellers who supply through its platform, and deposit with the Government. |
Anyone who is registered, or required to be registered, under the CGST Act - this covers individuals, HUFs, companies, firms, LLPs, AOPs/BOIs, co-operative societies, local authorities, trusts, government bodies and other legal persons that carry on business in India.
Under section 22, Rs 20 lakh is the default threshold (Rs 10 lakh in a special category State), with a higher Rs 40 lakh limit available for suppliers dealing exclusively in goods, where the relevant State has notified it.
Under section 24, specific categories must register no matter how small their turnover is: inter-State suppliers, casual taxable persons, reverse charge taxpayers, persons liable under section 9(5), non-resident taxable persons, TDS deductors, agents making supplies on another’s behalf, Input Service Distributors, e-commerce operators required to collect tax at source and those supplying through them, suppliers of online information and database access or retrieval (OIDAR) services from outside India, and, since 1 October 2023, overseas suppliers of online money gaming.
Under section 23, as substituted by the Finance Act, 2023 (now in force), a person dealing exclusively in exempt or non-taxable goods or services, and an agriculturist supplying only produce from their own cultivated land, are not liable to register - this exemption overrides sections 22 and 24 for these two categories.
Someone who occasionally supplies goods or services in a State or Union Territory where they have no fixed place of business. Under section 27, their registration is valid for 90 days from the effective date (or a shorter period they specify), extendable by a further 90 days, and they must deposit estimated tax in advance before the certificate is issued.
Only input services - never input goods or capital goods. An ISD is an office of a supplier that receives tax invoices for input services and redistributes the CGST, SGST or IGST credit on them to branches sharing the same PAN.
This article is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Please consult a qualified expert for advice tailored to your specific situation. The author and website owner are not liable for any errors or actions based on this content.
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