Cancel, revoke or amend GST registration

To change details on a live registration, file form REG-14 within 15 days of the change. How it is processed depends on the field:

• Core fields — legal name of the business, trade name, principal or additional place of business, and adding or removing partners, directors or the karta — need the officer to approve the amendment (REG-15).
• Non-core fields— most other details, such as contact information or the authorised signatory's details — update on the portal without a separate approval.

A change of PAN, or of the state, is not an amendment — it needs a fresh registration, because the GSTIN is built on the PAN and the state.

You can apply to cancel when the business is closed or transferred, when turnover falls below the threshold and you are no longer liable, or when you are otherwise no longer required to be registered. File form REG-16 on the portal with:

• the reason for cancellation and the date it should take effect;
• details of stock held on that date and the tax payable on it;
• particulars of any pending liabilities.

The officer cancels the registration by order in REG-19. Separately, the department can cancel a registration on its own motion — for non-filing, fraud or rule violations — by issuing a show-cause notice in REG-17 and an order in REG-19.

After cancellation, file the GSTR-10 final return within three months of the cancellation date or the date of the cancellation order, whichever is later. It accounts for the stock and the tax payable as on the day the registration ends. It is a one-time return and is separate from the regular GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B you file up to the cancellation date.

If the department cancelled your registration, you can apply for revocation in form REG-21 within 90 days of the cancellation order; the Additional/Joint Commissioner, and then the appellate authority, can extend this period further. Revocation is generally granted only once you have filed all pending returns and paid the tax, interest and late fee — clear the defaults that caused the cancellation, then apply.

Cancellation stops you charging and collecting GST from the effective date, but it does not end the liabilities from the period you were registered. You remain responsible for the tax, interest and penalty of that period, for the returns up to the cancellation date, and for the GSTR-10 final return. Treat cancellation as closing the account, not erasing it.

• Indian GST basics — registration thresholds and the GSTIN format.
• GST notices — REG-17 is the suo-moto cancellation show-cause notice.
• GST returns guide — file pending returns before you apply to cancel or revoke.