An additional place of business is a location other than the primary location wherein an applicable person/registered taxpayer carries on their business journey, intending to enhance market presence. Expanding your business to a new location can be both advantageous and challenging. While selecting the additional business location requires proper decision-making, it will increase your customer base, cater to new markets and potentially lead to business growth.

Whether you are a small business owner or managing a large-scale enterprise, you must have a planning strategy and conduct thorough research to set up the new branch effectively. In this blog, we will guide you through the documents required for an additional place of business in GST, the step-by-step guide for successful registration, the challenges that you may face and many more. Continue reading to learn about them in detail.

Procedure for Registering an Additional Place of Business Under GST

Each business location has to mandatorily have a separate registration even if they are under one legal entity. Follow the below-mentioned steps for a seamless registration process for an additional place of business under GST:

Step 1: Log in to the GST portal.

Step 2: Navigate to the ‘Services’ section and click on ‘Registration.’ Now proceed to select ‘Amendment of Registration Core Fields’.

Step 3: Following this, various editing tabs will be displayed on the screen. Click on the Additional Place of Business tab.

Step 4: Tap on ‘Add New’ and enter the basic details like the reason for amendment and amendment date.

Step 5: Click on ‘Save’. 

Step 6: Navigate to the ‘Principal Place of Business’ tab and select ‘Yes’ under ‘Have Additional Place of Business’ to add a new location. The registered person can also edit the existing address of the ‘Additional Place of Business’.

Step 7: Click on the verification box to select the verification checkbox and choose the name of the authorised signatory from the drop-down list. 

Step 8: Enter the address for the additional place of business and choose the option to digitally sign the amendment application (either DSC or EVC).

Once you go through the above steps carefully, a success message will be displayed on your screen, stating ‘Successful Submission’ along with a confirmation message that will be sent to your registered Email ID and phone number.

Documents Required for Additional Place of Business

Taxpayers need to submit a set of documents required for an additional place of business in GST irrespective of the type of GST registration.  Each of these business registration documents has been discussed below. 

1). PAN Card:

PAN Card serves as an identity proof of the signatory and is a required document for registering an additional place of business.

2). Owner/Authorised Signatories’ Photograph

Recent photographs (under a maximum size of 100 KB) of the authorised signatory are required for the successful registration of additional places of business for GST. Additionally, proof of appointment of an authorised signatory is also necessary.

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3). Contact Number & Email Address

For registration of additional premises other than the principal place of business, the registered mobile phone number and email address of the signatory are required.

4). Proof of Address

Documents like property tax receipts, electricity bills, rental agreements, lease agreements, property tax receipts, municipal khata, etc. serve as address proof of the business premises. Additionally, photographs of the interior and the exterior of the location may be required.

5). Bank Account Information

Important bank account details like certificates from your registered bank account, certifying the business account with your bank, account number, bank address, bank statement, IFSC code, branch address and a cancelled cheque displaying the name of the business are requisites.

6). Application Form GST REG-18

This form is a requisite as it consists of important business proofs like possession of premises, additional business address, business legal name, etc.

7). NOC from Tax Authorities

No Objection Certificate from the tax official of transferring the ownership of your business taxes to the department of GST is required.

Having said that, non-compliance to the regulations or running a business operation without a GST registration certificate is against the legal obligation and can lead to hefty penalties.  

Advantages of Timely Registration

Timely GST registration of an additional place for business offers several significant advantages. Let us discuss them in detail: 

• Better Geographical Scope: An enhanced geographical footprint helps in business expansion in multiple ways. For instance, it helps you extend your territory beyond the old markets, increase your accessibility and create credible customer service.
• Benefits of Input Tax Credit: Timely registration of business places will help you optimise ITC as you can claim Input Tax Credit from more than one location. This way, businesses can considerably smoothen the taxation process and reduce their local tax burden.
• Supply Chain Regulation: Proper registration of additional business places helps in the effective management of the supply chain. It is more advantageous to expand the presence of your business over a single location, as you will be able to decrease the cost of transportation, enhance customer satisfaction and so on.
• Competitive Advantage: In this competitive market, restricting your business activities to a single location makes it difficult to mark your presence. Therefore, it is always beneficial to have an additional place of business, as it would boost your abilities to compete with other business models.
• Business Growth and Development: An additional place of business streamlines the process of business growth and development. It opens avenues for collaborating with new markets, increases the source of business revenues and in turn, helps in the development of business.

Situations Where You Cannot Register an Additional Place of Business

Business owners cannot register an additional place of business under GST if their previous application was not approved. If a previous application for an additional place of business was rejected or is still pending, further registration is unlikely. In such cases, you must go through the ‘Track Application Status’ tab on the GST portal and check the status of your application.

Challenges in Registering an Additional Place of Business Under GST

There are certain challenges that you may encounter while registering an additional place of business under GST. Let us know more about them.

• Difficult Application Guidelines: The guidelines provided for successful registration under GST may be difficult if you are not familiar with the GST forms. Therefore, it is always advised to seek professional assistance or consult tax advisors before you proceed with the process.
• Verification Process by Authorities In-Charge: The authorities may conduct a physical verification process to ensure proper compliance with the tax regulations of the business entity and timely tax payments by the registered person. Most of the time, a representative or an officer will visit your place and verify the documents provided by you.
• Numerous Registrations: Numerous registrations for additional locations of business under GST can create confusion and unnecessary complexities. You can avoid this by taking the help of a central registry that will keep track of all the applications and the status of their approval.

The Bottom Line

Now that you have an idea about the documents required for an additional place of business in GST, the procedures and its advantages, you can enhance your market presence considerably. It is advisable to conduct proper research, judge whether the new location aligns with your business needs and ensure legal and business compliance to carry out day-to-day operations seamlessly.

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