Now Reading: GST registration guide for foreign companies selling into India
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GST registration guide for foreign companies selling into India
The Story in Brief
Foreign companies supplying services into India without a local office face different GST registration requirements depending on what they supply and to whom. Non-resident taxable persons supplying goods or services with a fixed presence need a limited-period registration with advance tax deposit.
Online information and database access or retrieval services (OIDAR) supplied from outside India to non-taxable consumers require the provider to register under the simplified scheme and pay IGST. The scheme covers B2C supplies such as software subscriptions and digital content, with monthly filings and no input tax credit. Where the Indian recipient is a registered business, most imported services are taxed under reverse charge, so the foreign supplier need not register.
Common errors include assuming a foreign supplier never needs to register and misclassifying a B2B supply as B2C because the recipient's GST number was not obtained. The author suggests finance teams review the contract, which may shift liability to the Indian side through an indemnity, and prepare a one-page matrix of offerings, customer type and GST outcome.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The note equips a foreign finance team with the legal triggers that determine whether GST registration is required. The distinction between taxable B2C OIDAR supplies and B2B reverse charge supplies is the core operational choice, yet the author cautions that the contract's indemnity clauses can shift the tax liability back to the Indian side regardless. No pending rule changes or enforcement actions are flagged, leaving the next step as an internal audit: the team must map every service type, customer category and contract clause against the one-page matrix the article recommends to avoid the common errors it names.
Source: caclubindia.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
