What Is the Structure of GST Number?

The GST number consists of 15 digits. The details of this article give an insight into the benefits of having a GST registration number.

The Goods and Services Tax number is unique in its structure. It is an alphanumeric 15-digit number provided to a tax-paying business enterprise or business individual. Earlier, taxpayers had their distinct tax identification numbers (TIN), and this has now been replaced with the GST number. This is also referred to as the Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN). This was introduced by the central government of India in the year 2014 and is issued by the GST Council of India. The first two digits of the GST number indicate the code of a particular Indian state. The ten digits following this comprise the PAN number of a particular business person or business enterprise. The thirteenth digit denotes the number of registrations made by a business person or business enterprise with the same PAN number in a specific state. The fourteenth digit of this number is, by default, the alphabet, ‘Z’. The last digit, i.e., the fifteenth digit, serves as a check code. This helps detect errors, if any, and can be represented by either an alphabet or a number.

In simple words, suppose you have registered your business only once in a specific Indian state, then the thirteenth digit of your GST number will be denoted by the digit ‘1’. If you have registered two businesses in the same state, then the thirteenth digit is denoted by the digit, ‘2’. If you have registered eleven businesses in one Indian state, the thirteenth digit is denoted by the alphabet, ‘B’. This systematic structure enables you to function with 35 business ventures. 

What Are the Advantages of Having a GST Number?

A GST Number Online comes with a host of advantages. Some of these are listed below:

• A GST number helps the medium and small-scale industries independently file their business tax. If they have an annual turnover of ₹1.5 crores, they can resort to a special tax filing process
• A GST number serves as legal permission for any business to initiate operations. This makes them get acknowledged as trusted brands and increases the scope of business expansion
• It facilitates the identification of every distinct business in every commercial transaction that takes place. This helps the business merchant, the end-consumer as well as the government authorities
• When mentioned in any invoice, it validates the genuineness of the business merchant
• It also helps safeguard the interests of the two parties involved in any commercial transaction
• It promotes a more systematic process of logistics
• Multiple payments of unnecessary tax burdens have been eliminated
• Small businesses benefit from reduced rates of taxation
• GST has successfully regulated the unorganised sector
• Online e-commerce ventures enjoy the ease of conducting business
• GST procedures are simple and easily understood
• It helps authenticate the legality of any business
• It has helped simplify the entire tax system in the larger interests of business owners and commercial corporations
• This enhances the economic rankings pertaining to ‘ease of doing business index’ and also the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.

Understanding the Process of Verifying the GST Number Online

• It is very easy to verify a GST number on the web. Given below are the steps involved in the online verification of a GST number
• Log on to the official website of the GST portal, namely www.gst.gov.in
• You will get three options on the landing page, namely, ‘Search by GSTIN/UIN’, ‘Search Migrated taxpayer’, and ‘Search Composition taxpayer’
• If you wish to validate the GST number of a regular taxpayer, you should click on the option of ‘Search by GSTIN/UIN’
• Another screen providing space for you to key in the GST number is displayed
• Key in the 15-digit GST number and click on ‘Search’
• If the number you have keyed in is accurate, another screen is displayed with all the details aligned to the said GST number.

How to Obtain details of a GST Number Search with the Help of PAN Card Details?

Thanks to technology, you can find the GST number of regular dealers, Composition dealers (whose total annual turnover does not exceed ₹1.5 crores. There are trusted online GST websites that help you verify GST numbers. You can also search a GST number of a business person or a business enterprise by their PAN number.

GST number search by PAN number is time-effective and involves the following simple steps:

• Visit the official website of the GST portal, i.e., www.gst.gov.in
• On the landing page, you will see many hotlinks like ‘Search by GSTIN’, Search by PAN, and Search Composition Taxpayer
• Click on the Search by PAN section
• Key in the PAN number of the individual/business to understand the GST new registration details
• Enter the Captcha code as shown on screen
• Click on the ‘Search’ tab
• Once you do that, the system furnishes you with all requisite details of the said GST registrations, aligned with the PAN number you have provided. The details furnished to you by the system of the GST portal include the GSTIN, the particular Indian State as well as the prevailing status of the GSTIN.

In case you wish to view specific details of certain GST numbers, e.g., you wish to view the legal name of the concerned business enterprise, the status of its filing of returns, or even the jurisdiction of the said State, you will be able to do that as well. 

Spotting Fake GSTIN

The best way for Spotting fake GSTINs is by using the GSTIN search tool available for verification. Here are the steps to verify the authenticity of a GSTIN:

• Visit https://www.gst.gov.in/
• Click on ‘Search Taxpayer’ and select ‘Search by GSTIN/UIN’.
• Enter the GSTIN of the business.
• Complete the Captcha and click ‘Submit’

A valid GSTIN will provide information about the business, including its location, registration date, legal business name, and more. In contrast, a fake GSTIN will yield no results.

Conclusion

You can also validate a GST number online by name by following the same steps. In this case, you will have to key in the name of the said individual or business enterprise. You can also give additional details by providing the name of the said Indian State. This becomes important in the case of businesses that have their operations in more than one state in the country.