Do you need GST to sell from your own website?

The short answer

GST registration depends on two things: where your customers are, and how much you sell in a year. For a seller with their own website, the first one usually decides it.

If you deliver even one order to a customer in another state, you must register, whatever your turnover. If all your deliveries stay inside your own state, you need to register only once your yearly turnover crosses the limit.

Why shipping to another state decides it

Section 24 of the CGST Act lists people who must register regardless of turnover. One of them is anyone making an inter-state taxable supply. A sale from Jaipur to a customer in Mumbai is an inter-state supply.

Many guides quote the turnover limit and stop there. A new store with ten orders a month still needs GST if one of those orders crosses a state border.

There are exemptions for inter-state supplies of services and of notified handicraft goods, described in the GST Council's registration flyer. There is none for ordinary goods.

The turnover limit, if you sell only inside your state

If you supply only goods, Notification 10/2019 exempts you from registration up to a yearly turnover of ₹40 lakh. Three things remove that exemption:

• You are in a state the notification leaves out, where the limit stays lower. The list is Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura and Uttarakhand.
• You sell ice cream, pan masala or tobacco products.
• You also supply services, in which case the limit is ₹20 lakh.

Your own website is not a marketplace

Selling through Amazon, Flipkart or Meesho follows different rules, because those platforms collect tax at source on your sales. A lot of advice online is written for marketplace sellers and does not apply to you.

From 1 October 2023, Notification 34/2023 lets small sellers sell through marketplaces without registration, inside their own state and under the turnover limit. It is written for marketplace sales. A seller with their own website gains nothing from it, because the ordinary turnover limit already covered them.

Can you take payments without a GST number?

Usually yes. Payment gateways ask for business and bank details, and for a GST number when you have one. Check the current requirements with your gateway before you sign up.

When to register even if you do not have to

Register early if you plan to ship outside your state soon, since you cannot accept those orders without it. Registration also lets you claim credit for the GST you pay on packaging, shipping and software. The cost is filing regular returns, so weigh that against how soon you expect to grow.

What to do next

Decide where you will deliver. If the answer is all of India, register before you launch. If it is your own state only, track your turnover and register before you cross the limit. Either way, confirm your own case with a chartered accountant.