Decoding GST Number

Goods and Service Tax (GST) is the biggest tax revolution our country will experience since Independence. It will club all indirect taxes by bringing them under one single act to make it systematic. Several bills have been passed and transition to GST has already begun. The present Government wishes to roll out GST during the second half of 2017 and has been working towards achieving it. Decoding GST Number, Along with Service tax and VAT, two of the biggest indirect taxes, smaller ones too will be combined into one single mammoth tax.

Goods and Service Tax Registration Number

Registration Number under GST Act is a 15-digit alphanumeric number that depends upon PAN, state in which you have your entity is registered and the number of registrations you have made. The first two digits of the 15-digit GST number is the state code. Every state is given its unique code as per 2011 census. The state code is between 01 and 35 wherein the first one is Jammu and Kashmir while the last, that is, 35th is of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The next 10 digits are the PAN Card of the entity registered under GST Act. This is done to create synchronization between direct and indirect taxes. Availability of PAN allows authorities to link all the accounts and fetch data immediately.

 Entity code

The 13th digit of the 15-digit alphanumeric GST number is the entity code. This digit can either be a number or an alphabet. This is the number of registrations an entity has done under the Act. For instance, if a person owns multiple businesses then all the businesses will be numbered from 1 to 9 and then A to Z. That means a person can register a maximum of 35 entities in a state. 

Last two digits

The next digit, that is, 14th is kept blank by the Authorities for future use. The last digit is the check digit that is allotted by the department and it differs from entity to entity.

So even before you register under GST one knows the whole number except for the last 2 digits of the 15-digit GST number.

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